Big picture - MI seek first win on homecoming
Whether you are in Mumbai city or the Mumbai Indians (MI) dressing room, it has started getting hot. While the temperatures in Mumbai have hit 35°C, MI must be feeling uneasy about their position on the points table: tenth.
MI have traditionally been slow starters in the IPL, having not won their opening game since 2012, and scraping through to the playoffs at the last minute at times, including in 2023. While they could draw confidence from their 2023 campaign - they were without Jasprit Bumrah even then - they have plenty of other kinks to iron out this time as they prepare to face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Monday.
In captain Hardik Pandya's own words, MI's top order hasn't come to the party yet, with totals of 155 for 9 and 160 for 6 in two games so far. Against Gujarat Titans (GT) on Saturday, they committed numerous fielding errors and probably made a mistake with their batting order too. As they finally get home after two away games, they have had only one day's break.
In the absence of Bumrah, who would have been primarily their death bowler, MI's new-ball specialists - Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar - have largely been ineffective, with just one wicket between them in the powerplay. Lack of runs from the senior batters - especially Rohit Sharma - is hurting them too. The sooner MI fix those issues, the better it will be as two of their next three games are again away from home.
KKR, meanwhile, don't have that many issues to worry about. They adjusted very well on the slow track of Guwahati even without Sunil Narine, who was unwell for that game against Rajasthan Royals (RR) but is now 100% fit. Different batters chipped in against RR and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and be it spin department or pace, KKR's bowling looks a lot more potent and well-rounded than MI's. They have not even had to bowl Andre Russell yet, who was their joint-second-highest wicket-taker in the victorious campaign last season.
Team news and likely XIIs
MI left out Will Jacks and recent-debutant Vignesh Puthur against GT to bring in Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Hardik. They might bring in the tall left-arm quick Reece Topley for the red-soil surface at home, which aids pace and bounce. Topley's ability to bowl yorkers will give MI another option in the death overs on a ground with small boundaries. Including him could mean leaving out either Mujeeb or Mitchell Santner.
Mumbai Indians (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Ryan Rickelton (wk), 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Hardik Pandya (capt), 6 Robin Minz, 7 Naman Dhir, 8 Deepak Chahar, 9 Mitchell Santner/Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10 Trent Boult, 11 S Raju, 12 Reece Topley
Narine will slot right back in for KKR, which means leaving Moeen Ali out despite him bagging 2 for 23 against RR.
Kolkata Knight Riders (probable): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 4 Angkrish Raghuvanshi, 5 Venkatesh Iyer, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Ramandeep Singh, 9 Spencer Johnson, 10 Vaibhav Arora, 11 Varun Chakravarthy, 12 Harshit Rana
Big question
Should Hardik bat ahead of Robin Minz? When Hardik returned to action in Ahmedabad, the captain sent the inexperienced Minz above himself when MI needed a stiff 100 off 51 balls on a tricky pitch. Hardik himself may want to shoulder more responsibility going forward to not leave as much work for Minz.
In the spotlight - Rohit Sharma and Angkrish Raghuvanshi
Rohit Sharma bagged a duck against CSK, and lasted just four balls to score 8 against GT when an inducker from Mohammed Siraj castled him. While many batters may not have had an answer to that Siraj delivery, Rohit's dismissal against CSK - a flick to midwicket - brought back memories of similar dismissals that plagued him in the Tests against New Zealand and Australia, and in the Ranji Trophy before he got back into runs in ODIs. Despite a century against England at home and a 76 in the Champions Trophy final, Rohit looks far from the batter that used to take down bowlers after having his eye in, in the IPL. Now, back to his home ground where he has played for nearly 20 years, MI will bank on Rohit to give them the start they missed in the first two matches.
Also returning home is Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who moved from Delhi to Mumbai at the age of 11. He has, however, played only one game at the senior level at the Wankhede - in last year's IPL - when he scored 13 off six balls against MI. But he has had two good IPL seasons, and with his tall frame and sound technique, he will hope to get some runs in the city that has adopted him.
Pitch and conditions
This is the first game at the Wankhede this IPL, and the ground is expected to see humidity and a decent sea breeze coming in from Marine Drive. Even though the dew isn't expected to play a big role, the teams might still play it safe and bowl first. With short boundaries awaiting the crowd that is likely to make the game a sellout, they should be ready for some catching practice.
Key stats
Boult and Chahar with the new ball against KKR's top order could make for a delicious contest. Boult has dismissed Ajinkya Rahane three times in six IPL innings (strike rate 97), Narine four times in four T20s (strike rate 135), and Quinton de Kock six times in nine T20s (strike rate 114). Chahar has also removed de Kock four times (strike rate 117.50), Rahane four times in four IPL innings (strike rate 91.30), and Narine twice in four T20s but while leaking at 209.09.
The Wankhede is also a home ground for KKR's new captain Rahane, who averages 40 there in the IPL against MI, with three half-centuries from ten innings. Rahane scored his fastest IPL half-century, off 19 balls, at the Wankhede two years ago when he was with CSK.
MI dominate KKR in the head-to-head rivalry at this ground, with a 9-2 record. However, KKR have won five of the last six matches against MI.
Venkatesh Iyer's lowest score against MI is 42. He averages 72.40 against them in six matches, with a century and three half-centuries, while striking at 165.29.
Rohit has been dismissed by Narine ten times in all T20s. No bowler has dismissed a batter more times, which is level with Dwayne Bravo getting Kieron Pollard, who are in the KKR and MI dressing rooms, respectively.
Suryakumar Yadav is only 20 away from 8000 runs in T20s.
Next three fixtures
After their first home game at Wankhede, Mumbai fly out to Lucknow to play Lucknow Super Giants, then come back to host RCB before going to Delhi to play Delhi Capitals.
KKR will return home from the west coast for two home fixtures - against Sunrisers Hyderabad and LSG - before going down south to play CSK.
Quotes
"There should not be a concern [about the batting]... and it's [at an] early stage. But at the same point of time, I think batters have to come to the party. And yeah, hopefully they come soon."
MI captain Hardik Pandya spells out what's missing for them
"More than anything, I'm focused on how well our team played in the last game. Mumbai Indians haven't been performing at that level, which gives us another advantage to put pressure on them."
KKR head coach Chandrakant Pandit piles on a little more pressure on MI
