Mumbai Indians will take on Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Although MI has been dominant over KKR in recent years, based on the current form of both squads, we can expect a competitive encounter. In this article, we take a look at two changes Mumbai Indians might make for the game against KKR on Thursday.
1) Rohit Sharma for Anmolpreet Singh
If Rohit Sharma is fit for the encounter against KKR, he is an automatic replacement for Anmolpreet Singh. Kieron Pollard did mention that the ”Hitman” would be ready for the game against KKR. Anmolpreet showed flashes of good form, but it would be too risky to have him in the playing XI at such a crucial stage of the tournament.
Rohit has scored 982 runs in 28 matches against KKR, and that is his best record against any team. Hence, he will be an upgrade at the top of the order for MI. On the other hand, in the game against CSK, although Mumbai had a terrific start with the ball, Kieron Pollard was unable to close the game down. This eventually came back to haunt Mumbai in the end. With Rohit Sharma returning, such mistakes may not repeat.
2) Hardik Pandya for Saurabh Tiwary
Hardik Pandya coming in for Saurabh Tiwary might be one of the changes Mumbai Indians might make for the game against KKR. This is if Hardik is available for the encounter. Saurabh was the best batsman for MI in the game against CSK. He made a fifty, but it came at the cost of 40 deliveries. Had he been more aggressive, MI could have taken the game closer.
Moreover, Hardik Pandya is an undroppable name, and so are the likes of Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav and Krunal Pandya. Hence, it will be the Jharkhand player who will have to make way. Hardik’s form will be important for both MI and Team India. It will also be interesting to see if the Baroda man would take the ball and bowl a few overs. If he does that, MI’s balance would improve a lot.
