IPL 2020: 3 changes Mumbai Indians should make in their playing XI against the Kolkata Knight Riders

MI lost their opening game to CSK by five wickets.

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3) Jayant Yadav for Krunal Pandya

Jayant Yadav
Jayant Yadav. (Photo: IANS)

The Pandya brothers- Krunal and Hardik- have been a central cog in the Mumbai side over the last few seasons. The duo- thanks to the allround skills they bring to the table- offer clinical balance to the MI team. Their roles vary as per situation, but Hardik mostly operates as a swashbuckling, middle-order batsman who can bowl some filler overs. Krunal, meanwhile, usually plays as a complete four-overs, left-arm-orthodox spinner and fills in as a floater batsman. 

Against KKR, though, MI might not mind just tipping some of that balance off to accommodate a right-arm spinner in their ranks. With the addition of Eoin Morgan; Kolkata now have as many as three left-handed batsmen (Narine and Nitish Rana) in the side. Considering the natural disadvantage left-arm off-spinners have against batsmen with the same strong-arm, Krunal’s utility gets somewhat diminished.

Thankfully, Mumbai has the option of playing Jayant Yadav, an almost like-for-like replacement for Krunal. The seasoned Haryana off-break bowler has a reputation for bowling miserly spells. Alongside the more attacking leggie Rahul Chahar, Jayant can spin a web around KKR’s batting order and leave their run-scoring means strangled. Add to those bowling skills an impressive strike rate of 112.28 in T20s, and MI have a handy, spin-bowling tailender in their side. 

~Written by Soham Bhowal

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