MI went down to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 20 runs in the previous encounter. They were without Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya in the previous game. And CSK took full advantage of the situation, recovering after losing four early wickets to post what turned out to be a match-winning total. MI will be hopeful that both Rohit and Pandya are available for the match against KKR.
Looking at KKR, though they have an abysmal record against MI, the franchise would be extremely confident going into Thursday’s clash. They were exceptional in their nine-wicket triumph over a hapless Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), cleaning them up for 92 and then chasing down the target in 10 overs.
Trent Boult revealed that Rohit and Hardik are recovering well but did not clarify whether they would be fit for Thursday’s clash. If available, Rohit would walk in for Anmolpreet Singh. It would be interesting to see if a fit Hardik replaces Saurabh Tiwary, considering the latter was MI’s best batter in the previous game.
MI Predicted XI: Rohit Sharma (c)/Anmolpreet Singh, Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya/Saurabh Tiwary, Krunal Pandya, Adam Milne, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
KKR wouldn’t like to disturb their winning combination for now. Varun Chakravarthy, Andre Russell and Lockie Ferguson excelled with the ball against RCB while Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer were aggressive with the bat.
KKR Predicted XI: Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy
Top Fantasy picks for MI vs KKR clash: Suryakumar Yadav, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Venkatesh Iyer, Varun Chakravarthy, Andre Russell
--Renin Wilben Albert