Beleaguered Mumbai looking to get campaign back on track | IPL 2021 Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders: SWOT Analysis

Mumbai Indians (MI) will be aiming to get back to its winning ways against a resurgent Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) when the two teams lock horns at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. MI are fourth on the points table with 8 points from 8 matches. KKR have managed 6 points from their 8 league games so far.

MI is coming into this match after an embarrassing 20-run loss against Chennai Super Kings. Contrary to MI, KKR enjoyed a comfortable 9-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in their previous fixture.

Here is the preview of the match between MI and KKR.

SWOT for MI

Strengths: MI’s bowling unit is delivering goods for the team. Rahul Chahar has picked up 11 wickets and is the team’s leading wicket-taker. He is followed by Trent Boult who has 10 wickets to his name. Jasprit Bumrah is ever so reliable and has 8 scalps so far this season. Adam Milne impressed against Chennai Super Kings and picked up 2 wickets. With batters struggling, the onus will be on the bowlers to deliver a win for the team.

Weaknesses: MI’s famed batting line-up isn’t working well this season. In the previous seasons, the top order comprising Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma, the middle order comprising Surya Kumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan and the lower order consisting of Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya has gelled well. But this year, these batters have struggled which has compounded MI’s problems.

Opportunities: If Hardik Pandya continues to miss out for the team, then Saurabh Tiwary will get an extended run. Tiwary hasn’t got many chances to play in the recent past. But the left-handed batter scored a steady 50 against Chennai Super Kings when the top-order faltered. Tiwary should make the maximum use of the chances that he could get in Pandya’s absence.

Threats: MI have a poor net run rate of -0.071 compared to KKR’s healthy net run rate of +0.110. If MI lose this match, KKR will be level on points with MI but will overtake them on the points table because of superior net run rate. If that happens, it will be a serious blow to MI’s playoff chances.

SWOT for KKR

Strengths: Bowling has been KKR’s strength this season. Varun Chakravarthy and Andre Russell have picked up 10 wickets each. Prasidh Krishna is not far behind with 9 scalps. Sunil Narine may have picked just 3 wickets but has bowled his 20 overs in the league at an economy of just 6.60. Eoin Morgan will look to his bowlers once more for a win in this match.

Weaknesses: Eoin Morgan and Dinesh Karthik have struggled with the bat this season. Morgan has only 92 runs from 7 innings and Karthik has scored 123 runs from the same number of innings. Against Royal Challengers Bangalore, the two were not needed to bat. So, if MI is able to force Morgan and Karthik to spend time in the middle, it could be worrying for KKR.

Opportunities: KKR have struggled to find a good opening combination for the past many seasons. But in Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer, KKR may have finally found a well-settled opening pair. Gill is right-handed and Iyer is a left-handed batter. The two batters can alter the tempo of their innings depending on their partner’s approach. The two batters have the opportunity to cement their spot as a reliable opening pair for the team.

Threats: History suggests that KKR have struggled against MI. This is one of the most lopsided rivalries in the IPL. Since the inception of the league, KKR have registered only 6 wins over MI. Since 2016, MI have defeated KKR 11 times. These numbers will surely worry Eoin Morgan and his troop.

Head-to-Head

Matches played: 28

Mumbai Indians wins: 22

Kolkata Knight Riders wins: 6

What happened in the reverse fixture earlier in the season?

On a slow track of Chennai, Mumbai Indians were bowled out for 152. The batting efforts of Surya Kumar Yadav stood out as he scored a steady 56 from 36 balls. Kolkata Knight Riders started the chase well thanks to 50 from opener Nitish Rana. But four wickets from spinner Rahul Chahar and a two-wicket haul from pacer Trent Boult ensured a KKR collapse and the chase was restricted to 142/7 in 20 overs.

Form Guide

Mumbai Indians: L-W-W-L-L

Kolkata Knight Riders: W-L-W-L-L

Pitch and conditions

The previous match at this stadium was between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders. The pitch for that match was slow and assisted the bowlers. The average score batting first at the venue is 165. So going by the trend, run-scoring isn’t easy on the pitches of Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

The evening of the match will be clear and warm. The temperature is going to be around 31°C and the humidity level is 55%.

Team News

Mumbai Indians’ regular captain Rohit Sharma did not play the match against Chennai Super Kings. Stand-in captain Kieron Pollard and head coach Mahela Jayawardene did not reveal much on Sharma’s absence. Another notable absentee in that match was all-rounder Hardik Pandya. It remains to be seen if these two players make their way back into the team for this crucial match.

Kolkata Knight Riders have no concerns about player's availability.

Deccan Herald’s Dream XI

Quinton de Kock (wk), Shubman Gill, Surya Kumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Eoin Morgan (c), Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Rahul Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna

Impact player for MI

Rahul Chahar: Leg spinner Rahul Chahar is the team’s leading wicket-taker with 11 scalps. His best figures of 4/27 for this season were achieved against KKR in the reverse fixture. If Chahar can keep up his wicket-taking form then it would make life easier for MI’s skipper.

Impact player for KKR

Varun Chakravarthy: KKR’s answer to Rahul Chahar is their own ‘mystery’ spinner Varun Chakravarthy. The spinner has picked up 10 wickets and best bowling figures of 3/13. If Chakravarthy can replicate his bowling form against Royal Challengers Bangalore, then an already struggling MI batting line-up would be in further trouble.

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