IPL 2022 KKR vs MI Preview - Just another slow start for MI or time to hit the panic button?

Key match stats KKR vs MI

Pitch Stats – Maharashtra Stadium

Average first innings score: 171
Average first innings winning score: 187
Average powerplay score: 47
All-time win % batting 1st vs batting 2nd: 39% / 61%

Team form KKR vs MI
KKR – WLW
MI – LL
Recent meetings: IPL 2021 results - KKR won by 7 wickets, MI won by 10 runs

KKR vs MI Preview

Let's start with the question posed in the title of this blog. Is it time for MI to panic after losing their first 2 matches or is it yet another slow start to an IPL campaign for the 5 times champions?

There have been positives from their opening 2 games for example the consistency of Ishan Kishan at the top of the order, the emergence of Tilak Varma in the middle and good bowling from Jasprit Bumrah (against RR at least), Tymal Mills and Murugan Ashwin and yet as a collective they've failed to put together a performance worthy of winning the 2 points.

We've already commented that neither their middle order or bowling has the depth that it once did and that is allowing opposition teams the opportunity to reverse the momentum in games against Mumbai even when they have been under pressure.

We saw that in the first game against Delhi where Mumbai reached 65 for 0 after 8 overs but then limped to a total of 177, 15 to 20 runs short of where they should have gotten to. Worse yet in that match they had Delhi 77 for 5 at the half way point of their chase and ended losing with an incredible 10 balls to spare!

Against the Royals they looked on top while Bumrah was bowling before Jos Buttler took Basil Thampi for 26 off the 4th over and Hetmyer did the same to Kieron Pollard later in the innings.

Outside of that, you'd say Mumbai bowled well and had it not been for those 2 massive overs would have restricted Rajasthan to around the 170 mark. Still the Royals' batsmen seemed confident in the knowledge that there are enough weaknesses in this MI attack that you can make up for being cautious against their danger men.

Again in that match with bat in hand they threw away a position where 7 or 8 times out of 10 you'd expect them to have won the game only to see them beaten comfortably.

The pressure is now really on the likes of Daniel Sams and Tim David who have had success in T20 cricket around the world in recent times but are finding that the IPL is not only a level up in performance but also the level of scrutiny that it attracts from around the world.

So far we've spent the preview talking about just one team but that's because KKR have gone about their business quietly and effectively.

Their new ball options coupled with the dual spinners are effectively strangling teams and as predicted in my last preview on them, they did opt to strengthen their bowling by playing Sam Billings as keeper.

With Australian duo Pat Cummins and Aaron Finch joining the squad then things are looking rosey for the Knight Riders. Whether either Aussie will play in this match remains to be seen. Certain reports suggest they will finish their quarantine period on 6 April but KKR coach David Hussey had originally suggested they would miss the first 5 games.

This match also sees India captain present going up against what many believe to be India captain future. Certainly Shreyas Iyer has been groomed from a very young age to lead and has hit the ground running at new franchise KKR. Beating Rohit's Mumbai side would be yet another feather in his cap.

KKR vs MI head to head

MI bowling vs KKR batting

As we've noted above, weaknesses in the Mumbai Indians bowling attack mean that if teams can resist the new ball burst from Jasprit Bumrah then they will feel confident that they can cash in on the change bowlers later in the innings.

Rahane and Shreyas Iyer combined T20 head to head vs Bumrah

In Rahane and Shreyas Iyer, KKR have 2 top order players who can offer just that as their respective records in T20 cricket against Bumrah show.

Another match-up that KKR will be keen to exploit comes in the form of their 2 left-handed top order players both of whom have very strong records against left-arm seamers. With Mills and Sams in their line-up, you'd expect between 6-8 overs to favour the career stats of Rana and Venkatesh Iyer.

Rana and Venkatesh Iyer vs left-arm fast medium bowling

Andre Russell returned to his destructive best in the match against PBKS and having him fit and in form poses a real challenge for Mumbai and captain Rohit Sharma.

Jasprit Bumrah's 4 overs will be crucial and as we've already suggested KKR will most certainly look to blunt his impact upfront while MI will want to keep a couple of overs from him for the back end of the innings.

Bumrah's record against Russell is good (dismissed him 3 times, average 20.3, S/R 129.8) but the same can't be said of the remainder of the MI bowling attack who have travelled the distance vs the big Jamaican in previous T20 encounters.

Russell's head to head vs MI's attack less Bumrah (Mills, Sams, Pollard, Ashwin and Thampi)

If KKR can force MI's hand in regards Bumrah's allotted overs then they might have some fun at the death!

KKR bowling vs MI batting

What price for a captains innings from Rohit Sharma to help steady the MI ship?

Unfortunately, his head to head record against a few of the KKR bowlers is not great (Yadav and Southee have dismissed him 4 times each in previous matches and even Shivam Mavi has got the Indian captain twice in just 15 balls) and the form of the new ball attack for KKR has been outstanding as shown below.

Team	Wickets in the Powerplay
KKR	8
GT	7
PBKS	6
MI	5
RR	5

most wickets in the powerplay, accurate as of games played on 3 April

Even if Rohit does get through that new ball burst then he'll come face to face with Sunil Narine, a player that he's done battle with on many occasions before and generally struggled to get the better of.

Rohit vs Narine T20 head to head

In fact, after Mumbai's capitulation against Ashwin and Chahal in the match vs Rajasthan it becomes even more important that at least one of their top order bat through the middle overs to limit the damage that Narine and Chakravarty could otherwise do against this middle order.

Tilak Varma's head to head vs spin in IPL 2022 to date

We've already seen in his fledgling career, Tilak Varma's willingness to take on the spinners as shown in the stats above. It's going to be a tall order against the vast experience and quality that KKR posses but don't bet against this young man.

All stats used in this blog are from my own database. Images are my own with the exception of player profiles and background images from the below sources and used under a creative commons license or otherwise royalty free

https://www.iplt20.com/
https://pixabay.com/images/search/cricket%20stadium/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en