KKR Predicted Playing XI vs MI for Match 51 of IPL 2024

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will cross swords with the Mumbai Indians (MI) in Match 51 of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday, May 3.

With six wins in nine matches, Kolkata are sitting pretty at second place in the IPL 2024 standings. Shreyas Iyer and Co. can go ahead of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) on points if they beat the ninth-placed Mumbai.

While KKR are unlikely to be tempted into making any drastic changes, their bowling unit is bound to go through at least one tweak.

KKR's squad for IPL 2024: Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sunil Narine, Phil Salt, Suyash Sharma, Anukul Roy, Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, KS Bharat, Chetan Sakariya, Mitchell Starc, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ramandeep Singh, Sherfane Rutherford, Manish Pandey, Allah Ghazanfar, Dushmantha Chameera, Sakib Hussain.

On that note, here is KKR's predicted playing XII (including one impact sub) for Match 51 of IPL 2024 against MI.

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Openers: Phil Salt (wk) and Sunil Narine

KKR's openers will relish batting at the Wankhede Stadium, which offers a firm pitch and true bounce. Phil Salt and Sunil Narine are in excellent form and will look to get their team off to a great start once again.

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Middle Order: Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, and Rinku Singh

Shreyas Iyer is slowly finding his feet in IPL 2024 and seems to be getting back to his best form. Venkatesh Iyer, who smacked a century the last time KKR and MI met, will partner his skipper in the middle order.

Angkrish Raghuvanshi has been used as a batting impact player, and with Nitish Rana still expected to be out, that is unlikely to change. After the youngster, Rinku Singh, fresh off a T20 World Cup snub, will be itching to prove his worth.

Andre Russell and Ramandeep Singh will add power and finishing ability to the lower-middle order.

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Lower Order: Mitchell Starc, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Suyash Sharma

Mitchell Starc has been woeful in IPL 2024, and it would be understandable if KKR replaced him with Dushmantha Chameera, who has a good head-to-head record against Rohit Sharma. But Kolkata are bound to have a great deal of faith in Starc, who they broke the bank for at the auction. Having a left-armer could also help matters for the away side.

Harshit Rana is unavailable due to a suspension, and if KKR want a pacer in his place, they could bring in either Chetan Sakariya or Sakib Hussain. But Suyash Sharma could ask serious questions of the Mumbai middle order, with the likes of Tim David and Hardik Pandya being susceptible to leg-spin.

Vaibhav Arora will then need to take on increased responsibility alongside Starc and Russell in the pace department.

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KKR's predicted playing XII (inc impact sub): Phil Salt (wk), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Mitchell Starc, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Suyash Sharma.

Other impact sub candidates: Anukul Roy, Chetan Sakariya, Sakib Hussain, Manish Pandey.