"It will be a battle of sixes"- Sunil Gavaskar ahead of MI vs KKR in IPL 2023

Former Indian opener and legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar feels that the encounter between the Mumbai Indians (MI) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Wankhede Stadium could see a lot of sixes hit.

Both teams have an explosive batting order and Gavaskar feels that the Wankhede Stadium will be a batting paradise, thereby possibly having a high-scoring encounter.

Speaking exclusively to Star Sports ahead of the game, Sunil Gavaskar spoke about the batters to watch out for from both sides. He said:

"It will be a battle of sixes with some big-hitters in both teams. Suryakumar yadav hasn't been in the best of form, but this could be the game. Andre Russell is on the other side who can also tonk the ball. So we could be in for a lot of sixes at the Wankhede Stadium because the ball comes onto the bat nicely."

Gavaskar also spoke about the importance of Mumbai Indians continuing their winning momentum. He added:

“The upcoming match is going to be very interesting for Mumbai because after breaking the long streak of defeat, there must have been a change in the mindset of the Mumbai team and now it will be interesting to see what kind of game they show to maintain their winning streak.”

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Harbhajan Singh on Nitish Rana ahead of MI vs KKR

Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was also present in the discussion on Star Sports and hailed KKR skipper Nitish Rana for stepping up in the absence of Shreyas Iyer. The southpaw has already played some fantastic knocks for Kolkata and Harbhajan feels his counter-attacking batting has been refreshing.

On this, the former cricketer stated:

“Nitish Rana has led KKR from the front in the last two games. His timing has been immaculate, he attacked spinners and pacers with equal ease. He is batting well and even making the captaincy moves brilliantly.”

The Mumbai Indians will play in front of 19,000 underprivileged girls as a tribute to their noble initiative of promoting women in sports.