Mumbai Indians host Kolkata Knight Riders in their second game of Indian Premier League 2017 season at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
The hosts are heading into their first home game of the season after losing to Rising Pune Supergiant in their tournament opener on Thursday. Rohit Sharma's men posted 184 after being sent into bat but the total did not prove enough as Ajinkya Rahane and Steve Smith played big knocks to seal a win for their team.
On the other hand, KKR will be riding high on confidence after their record-breaking 10-wicket win over Gujarat Lions in their season opener.
The hosts though will be banking on their home record (4 wins from 5 games) against KKR to help them get back to winning ways in the season. The return of Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga, who only recently took his maiden Twenty20 International hat-trick against Bangladesh, should help them solve their woes with the bowling unit as both Mitchell Mcclenaghan and Tim Southee, who played the last game, were taken to the cleaners.
Mitchell Johnson, who impressed in this year's Big Bash League, is also an option Mumbai can consider. They will also want to include Harbhajan Singh in the line-up as he will provide the much-needed spin option for the team, in the absence of injured all-rounder Ambati Rayudu.
On the other hand, Kolkata would want their opening batsman Chris Lynn and Gautam Gambhir to continue the way they played in the opening match. The Australian batsman, especially, has been in good form in the BBL as well and he will be a big boost to the line-up that also has Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey and Surya Kumar Yadav.
Team News
MI
Possible XI: Rohit (c), Patel (wk), Buttler, Rana, Hardik, Krunal, Pollard, Harbhajan, Malinga, Johnson, Bumrah
KKR
Possible XI: Gambhir (c), Lynn, Uthappa (wk), Pandey, Pathan, Suryakumar, Chawla, Woakes, Kuldeep, Narine, Boult
