A huge responsibility lies with the Kolkata Knight Riders’ new-look batting line-up as they open their campaign against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
Having been a shadow of the team that clinched the IPL title for the third time in 2024, the Knights failed to make the playoffs last season. This time, the Knights have transformed their team with the retirement of Andre Russell. There will be pressure on the likes of Rinku Singh and Ramandeep Singh as finishers, while the top-order will be dependent on the New Zealand opening pair of Tim Seifert and Finn Allen.
However, whether KKR will be able to accommodate both remains to be seen. Ajinkya Rahane and
Sunil Narine’s batting positions will decide the rest of the batting order.
How KKR’s bowling holds up against a power-packed Mumbai Indians batting line-up will decide Sunday’s contest. With the injured Harshit Rana and Akash Deep out, a lot will depend on the spin duo of Narine and Varun Chakravarthy. Zimbabwe pacer Blessing Muzarabani could be tried out in the circumstances.
With two World Cup-winning captains in their side, Mumbai Indians received a further boost when Jasprit Bumrah joined the side in Mumbai on Friday evening after having spent the past five days at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru as his workload continues to be monitored.
Bumrah didn’t practice on Saturday, but is expected to play on Sunday. Sources insist that there was nothing alarming about his visit to Bengaluru and it was a routine affair.
A new-look Rohit Sharma will also be keen to be back among runs. But it’s the Mumbai Indians’ all-round strength that makes them a side to beat. Besides Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav, the side also has Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma, two of India’s heroes in the recent T20 World Cup triumph.
KKR are at full strength, barring Matheesha Pathirana, whose availability depends
on getting the No Objection Certificate from Sri Lanka Cricket.
“It’s a waiting game at the moment and we’re being guided by the Sri Lankan Board. We are just doing everything we can to get him over here, really, as soon as possible,” Shane Watson, KKR’s assistant coach, said.
“With the calibre of support staff and medical staff that we’ve got here at KKR, we’ve got the exact same interests as Sri Lankan cricket as well. We want Pathirana to be here. We want him to be fit. We certainly would never, ever push him any earlier than he needs to.
“We just hope that sooner rather than later he’s able to come over here and we can really start the integration process,” the Australian said.
By the way, Mumbai Indians haven’t won their IPL opening match since 2013 and so will be looking to break that jinx on Sunday.
Green 'free' of price tag
The Knight Riders are relying heavily on Cameron Green, their ‘big buy’ at the last auction, and Shane Watson believes the Australian all-rounder won’t be weighed down by the price tag.
Green was acquired by KKR for ₹25.20 crore at the mini auction.
“I’ve seen players in the past who’ve had a high price tag on them. I’ve seen them crumble in the past, that wave of expectations really suffocated their ability to perform at their best,” Watson said.
“Cameron certainly doesn’t see it that way. We’ve seen with him when he got picked up to play at MI a couple of years ago for a pretty decent amount of money, he had a very good season.”
Watson credited Green with having a strong mindset to keep his focus. “That is his mindset when it comes to the IPL, that he’s got nothing to lose,” he said. “...he’s there to be as free as he can, be at his very best.”