Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and opted to chase in their must-win IPL clash against Mumbai Indians, with the hosts looking to close out a crucial run of results. Mumbai’s lineup was bolstered by the return of Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav, and they were also expected to use AM Ghazanfar as the Impact Player as they aimed to defend in the night.
The decision carried extra weight for KKR after rain in Kolkata had kept the pitch covered for long spells. The franchise arrived in the game with five victories from their six matches, yet they had not tasted success in their opening six fixtures of the campaign. With that in mind, they still had to win their final two matches, while also needing Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings to drop points in their respective concluding encounters.
Team news and XI details
KKR received a major boost through the availability of Varun Chakravarthy, who had been limited by a recurring niggle throughout the season. With Matheesha Pathirana ruled out due to a hamstring injury, KKR made a like-for-like adjustment by bringing in Rovman Powell as a batting replacement. Their bowling depth was also shaped by the inclusion of Cameron Green as their sixth option, while Finn Allen was considered the most likely choice for the Impact Player role.
Mumbai Indians XI
- 1 Ryan Rickelton (wk)
- 2 Rohit Sharma
- 3 Suryakumar Yadav
- 4 Naman Dhir
- 5 Tilak Varma
- 6 Hardik Pandya (capt.)
- 7 Will Jacks
- 8 Corbin Bosch
- 9 Deepak Chahar
- 10 Jasprit Bumrah
- 11 Raghu Sharma
MI bench
- AM Ghazanfar
- Shardul Thakur
- Mayank Rawat
- Robin Minz
- Krish Bhagat
Kolkata Knight Riders XI
- 1 Ajinkya Rahane (capt.)
- 2 Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk)
- 4 Cameron Green
- 4 Rovman Powell
- 5 Manish Pandey
- 6 Rinku Singh
- 7 Sunil Narine
- 8 Anukul Roy
- 9 Varun Chakravarthy
- 10 Saurabh Dubey
- 11 Kartik Tyagi
KKR bench
- Vaibhav Arora
- Finn Allen
- Rahul Tripathi
- Ramandeep Singh
- Tejasvi Singh
