The 32nd match of the ongoing IPL 2020 will see defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) taking on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on October 16, 2020.
The two teams had met earlier in the tournament on the same ground and then, MI had defeated KKR by 49 runs with captain Rohit Sharma standing out with a knock of 80 runs.
This time around, KKR requires a few more wins in its kitty to ensure a smooth path to playoffs, while MI needs a couple of wins to consolidate their position in the top four. With this exciting matchup coming up next, Team COC presents to you the Predicted Playing XIs for the MI v KKR match.
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MUMBAI INDIANS (MI)
Mumbai Indians have been on a roll for the last four matches, winning each one of them by quite some distance. They stand second on the point table with 5 wins from 7 matches and will be looking to add two more points against KKR.
Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock have found some form, but are yet to fire in unison. If they can do that in Abu Dhabi, MI can fancy their chances of a big win. Suryakumar, Ishan, and Hardik have done their job with the bat perfectly, while Krunal and Pollard have been devastating, to say the least.
MI has been content with playing 5 bowlers in Pattinson, Bumrah, Boult, Chahar, and Krunal, with Pollard chipping in a few overs. However, the pitches are slowing down in the tournament and Abu Dhabi is a big ground, MI might think of bringing in another spinner to the mix.
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But they have done well with the players they have in their team so far and apart from resting anyone to avoid injuries, MI might look to play with the same team.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS (KKR)
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have been blowing hot and cold for the last few matches in the IPL 2020. They haven’t been able to string together multiple wins to get momentum and in their last match, RCB exploited a major flaw in their playing combination as well.
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KKR went in with four proper bowlers and Andre Russell but had played only one spinner and RCB played him out and went after other bowlers. This time, with the pitches slowing in UAE and the match being played in a big ground like Abu Dhabi, KKR management might bring in Kuldeep Yadav back into the mix, benching Rahul Tripathi.
Tom Banton got his first chance in IPL and is likely to continue with Sunil Narine sitting out and the rest of the batting unit is absolutely smashing, to say the least. They just couldn’t find any momentum going against RCB and lost by a big margin of 82 runs. Against MI, KKR will like to get back into the form with a good win and set eyes on playoffs qualification.
MI COC Predicted Playing XIs:
Rohit Sharma (C), Quinton de Kock (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, James Pattinson, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult
KKR COC Predicted Playing XIs:
Shubman Gill, Tom Banton, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik (C&WK), Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna
