The second leg of the Indian Premier League has already begun as this time its the Mumbai Indians that take on the Kolkata Knight Riders for the second time in this tournament at Abu Dhabi. The last time the two teams met at Abu Dhabi, we witnessed an absolute cracker of an innings from Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma as he went on to score a knock of 80 runs.
As far as the table is considered, Mumbai Indians are placed on top of the table along with Delhi Capitals as the two sides keep juggling with the first and second place. Mumbai Indians success must be credited to the all-round performance of all its players, obviously, they came into this tournament having lost seven games on the trot in 2014. But this time in 2020 Mumbai Indians has looked a different side altogether which is clearly seen in their performance this season.
On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders have looked dodgy this season and their decisions to bat Sunil Narine at the top and batting Rahul Tripathi down the order are being criticised by many. Looking at their performance this season they’ve looked quite up and down though they’re placed fourth in the points table as now.
With both sides looking to get another win under their belt, Let’s take a look at the five key players to watch out for when Kolkata Knight Riders lock horns with Mumbai Indians.
Also Read: IPL 2020: Match 32-Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders – Match Preview
Let’s take a look at the five key players to watch out for when Kolkata Knight Riders lock horns with Mumbai Indians.
1. Kamlesh Nagarkoti
Another year another young fast bowler flourishing in the Indian Premier League, well Kamlesh Nagarkoti is another player who we should watch out for as this pacer is just showing why Kolkata Knight Riders stuck with him for two years. He hasn’t been a constant part of the side this season but has grabbed the opportunities he’s been presented.
With Kamlesh Nagarkoti looking in superb touch, let’s expect this youngster to contribute with the ball going ahead in this season along with Shivam Mavi.
2. Dinesh Karthik
The Kolkata Knight Riders skipper had a patchy start as captain and player to the 2020 Indian Premier League. He started off by batting at three but couldn’t get the runs going. Then some of his captaincy decisions were also criticised, as he stuck with Sunil Narine as an opener despite consistently failing to score runs.
But ever since Dinesh Karthik started batting down the order at 6 and 7 playing the role of the finisher, Karthik has been among the runs for his side. In the match against Kings XI Punjab at Abu Dhabi, Karthik scored a crucial 58 off 29 deliveries helping Kolkata Knight Riders post a competitive total against the KL Rahul led Kings XI Punjab.
3. Quinton de Kock
Another player who has looked in good touch this season even though he hadn’t had that many good games is Quinton de Kock. Opening the batting alongside Rohit Sharma, Quinton has managed to get Mumbai Indians those required explosive starts in the powerplay.
The newly appointed Proteas skipper had a rough time opening the batting for the Mumbai Indians earlier in this tournament but ever since that match against Sunrisers Hyderabad he’s looked in good shape and is expected to score a lot of runs going forward in this tournament
4. Rahul Tripathi
The Pune Boy has been a talk of the Indian Premier ever since he played his first match for Kolkata Knight Riders at Sharjah Cricket Stadium where he along with Eoin Morgan almost chased down the target of 229 against Delhi Capitals.
In the following match against Chennai Super Kings Rahul was then promoted as an opener where he went on to score a crucial knock of 80 runs, eventually helping Kolkata Knight Riders secure that win against Chennai.
Also Read: IPL 2020: Match 32 – Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders – Match Prediction
Though a couple of matches later Kolkata Knight Riders again chose to bat him down the order since Tom Banton came into the side but this gamble didn’t really pay off. With the in-form Rahul is in we all should expect much bigger and greater knocks from the youngster going forward in the tournament.
5. Jasprit Bumrah
The leader of the pace bowling attack of Mumbai Indians had a patchy start to the 2020 IPL season. But ever since he started opening the bowling for Mumbai Indians in the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Sharjah, Bumrah has looked in good mojo and expected to continue the same form going ahead in the season.
If Rohit Sharma keeps making the fast bowler open the bowling in the powerplay, we shall expect more wickets from the yorker king of India.