IPL 2020: Match Day 5: Kolkata Knight Riders Vs. Mumbai Indians

Finally, it was time for Kolkata Knight Riders to take the field in this year’s IPL. KKR is the weakest team on paper this year because they are the only team who will be playing 4 players or more in their first XI who are uncapped at the international level. And there is a 5th one – Shubman Gill who is yet to play an international T20 game. So a very inexperienced lineup – not taking away the talent – who will always be depending on a few stars to bail them out. 

The last couple of years it has all been about Andre Russell and he won matches for KKR from seemingly impossible situations.

Mumbai Indians have a stellar record against KKR and their captain loves this opposition too. No better opposition to get their campaign back on track after the loss against CSK a few days back.

So how did it go yesterday?

Here are my 5 pointers from yesterday’s match.

1. The Rohit Show

Rohit Sharma loves Eden Gardens. His test debut happened there. His world record of 264 runs in ODI happened there and he has scored tons of runs at that venue. This also meant that he scored lots of runs against KKR because Eden Gardens happen to be KKR’s home ground. Yesterday Rohit was in his elements. He pulled and drove at will. There is no better puller in the game of cricket than Rohit Sharma today. KKR did the cardinal mistake of bowling way too short and he took great advantage of the same. He missed his century yesterday but his 80 runs were way ahead of the next best scorer. 

2. The fast bowling conundrum 

From the inaugural IPL in 2008, KKR always spent a huge amount of money on a premier fast bowler. But the returns have always been poor. Be it, Ishant Sharma, in 2008 or Shane Bond in 2010 it has always been about diminishing returns. It hurt KKR even bad in 2018 when they spent a huge amount to secure the services of Mitchel Starc only to see him getting injured and subsequently not being available to play the IPL. This year, KKR spent humongous Rs. 15 Cr to secure the services of the world number 1 fast bowler – Pat Cummins. A lot depends on his performance because of the inexperienced pace bowing attack within the KKR ranks.

Unfortunately, Pat Cummins failed to fire yesterday. He was a pale shadow of his usual self. He had no control over line and length yesterday. He ended up going for 49 runs in 3 overs and his captain lost faith to have him complete the full quota of 4 overs.

3. RS 200. KP 150

Rohit Sharma hit 6 sixes yesterday and he went past the 200 sixes mark becoming the second Indian after MS Dhoni to register 200 sixes in IPL. A great achievement and he is not going anywhere soon. I won’t be surprised if he ends up hitting another 200 sixes before hanging his boots.

Keiran Pollard is synonymous with Mumbai Indians for many years now. He seemed to have had lost his mojo a couple of years back but he came back very strongly last year and is now the captain of the West Indies team. He was the captain of TKR (KKR’s Caribbean franchise) which won the CPL this year. That he completed 150 matches for Mumbai Indians is a great achievement because it shows his consistency as well as Mumbai’s love for him. They never left him out even when he had a tepid year or two. This year could be the KP year!

4. The return of Bumrah

Bumrah looked completely off-color in the last match. The 6 months of lockdown showed the rustiness as he struggled to get his length right. But yesterday the Boom Boom Bumrah was back in his elements. He was simply unplayable. His pace and guile kept the batsmen guessing throughout. His first 3 overs went for only 5 runs and he took 2 wickets too. That he went for 27 runs in his final over was an aberration because the competition was over by then.

Welcome back Bumrah!

5. Enigma called Kuldeep Yadav

KKR won IPL matches previously under the backdrop of 8 overs insurance cover from Sunil Naraine and Kuldeep Yadav. The magnificent bowling of Kuldeep Yadav till 2018 not only made him a top bowler in international cricket but also the go-to bowler for his captain in KKR. But something changed last year. He just couldn’t control his length and has always been either too short or too full and he had a horrible season which took its toll in his World Cup performance too. Cricket is a game of confidence and I felt that the lockdown period will help him to get his mojo back. But I was wrong because he was a pale shadow of 2018 yesterday. Not a single ball turned to make the batsmen uncomfortable. He was too short which was a rarity till 2018. He was milked easily and he gave away boundaries way too many. In a lineup that is filled with inexperienced players if one of your premier players is off-color then it’s very bad news for the team. Let’s see how he goes in the subsequent matches.

KKR hardly lost their inaugural matches in the previous editions and has a very high percentage of wins when it comes to winning their first match in a campaign but this year they have started in a wrong foot and with a very bad net run rate to boot. 

Will they be able to turn this around from here? What do you think?

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