🏏IPL 2025- Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Match-12, 7:30 PM

🏏IPL 2025 - Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 12th Match 7:30 PM IST🏏

MI are aiming for their first win of the season.

Narine is expected to be back for KKR.

MI maybe tempted to make changes for the contest

Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders will lock horns at the iconic Wankhede stadium on Monday, March 31. This will be the first match to be played in Mumbai this season as MI look to get their season up and running against the defending champions.

Two consecutive losses upfront for Mumbai Indians, what's new about that anyway, you'd think? They've had worse starts in the past and still gone on to win the IPL title. Skipper Hardik Pandya and coach Mahela Jayawardene have bigger concerns than just two early reversals. "MI have more questions than answers," says Mike Hesson in his preview of their upcoming clash against Kolkata Knight Riders today.

As the five-time champions return to their bastion, the Wankhede, they are met with several concerns. To begin with, their team selection has been far from ideal. In an inexplicably puzzling selection call, they left out Vignesh Puthur from the XI for the second game in Ahmedabad, despite his impactful three-wicket burst at Chepauk that had injected life into their season opener against CSK. "Horses for the courses," was the unconvincing explanation.

Secondly, Hardik's decision to bat lower than rookie Robin Minz against Gujarat Titans on Sunday night defied logic.

Third, their key pacers - Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar - are struggling to make an impact in the PowerPlay which is surprising for two of the league's most successful new ball bowlers. With the ball not swinging much, they have managed poor figures of one for 94 in nine PowerPlay overs across two games.

For Mumbai, there are a few worrying signs with the likes of Rohit Sharma, Tilak Verma yet to hit top form. Given that a red soil pitch will be used at the Wankhede on Monday, we may see Reece Topley make his debut for the 5-time champions. Topley's height will allow him to extract bounce off the track effectively. He may come in place of either Mujeeb Ur Rahman or Mitchell Santner for the game.

The continued absence of Jasprit Bumrah, along with the uncertainty surrounding his return, is another major worry for MI. And then there's Rohit Sharma whom MI badly need to step up before their campaign slips out of control. At the Wankhede, he will have the perfect stage to lead the team's revival.

Kolkata Knight Riders have had a mixed bag so far but they will be enthused by the recent record against MI. The defending champions have won five of the last six matches between the sides since the start of the UAE leg of IPL 2021.

What is more, they beat MI at the Wankhede last season, ending a 12-year winless streak at the venue. Coming off a convincing win against Rajasthan Royals, the Knight Riders go into the match confident.

The Wankhede stadium is known to be a high-scoring ground, with dew expected in the second innings. It is a good venue to chase and the onus will be on the batters to deliver.

Head to head: MI enjoy an edge in overall face-offs - 23-11 - but KKR have won five of the last six face-offs since the start of the UAE leg of IPL 2021. Remarkably, the visitors won their last encounter at the Wankhede, ending a 12-year drought at the venue.

Mumbai Indians

Injuries/Unavailability: Apart from Jasprit Bumrah, all other MI players are available.

Tactics & Matchups:

A change in combination could give MI a better balance. If Vignesh Puthur replaces Mujeeb Ur Rahman it could pave the way for Will Jacks. But the onus will be on Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, and Hardik Pandya to tackle the might of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy, the two most dangerous bowlers in the KKR line-up.

Probable XII: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton, Will Jacks, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Vignesh Puthur and Satyanarayana Raju

Kolkata Knight Riders

Injuries/Unavailability: No concerns as Sunil Narine has recovered enough to be available for selection. He is 100 per cent fit, declared head coach Chandrakant Pandit.

Tactics & Matchups: Quinton De Kock hit an unbeaten 97 in the previous game but he has a poor record against Mumbai's new ball bowlers, mainly Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar. He will look to work on that. In the pre-death overs (1-15), KKR seamers have picked up just two wickets and just one in the PowerPlay phase. The fact that Andre Russell has not bowled in either game yet after finishing as KKR's joint-highest wicket taker among seamers last season could compound the issue further for KKR going deep into the tournament.

Probable XII: Quinton de Kock, Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Sunil Narine, Spencer Johnson, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy and Angkrish Raghuvanshi

"Mumbai Indians have not been doing that (well). That is an advantage, we can put pressure on them. But the game has been played in Mumbai and we have to adapt immediately to the conditions here. And that is what we have been planning. And we will be able to do that," KKR head coach Chandrakant Pandit said ahead of the match.

Both Pandit and KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane, Mumbaikars that they are, have cut their cricketing teeth here. They know the conditions like the back of their hand. That familiarity factor and the disarray that the home team is currently in may give the visitors a slight edge.

Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai: Pitch report for MI vs KKR IPL 2025

Wankhede Stadium has long been known as a paradise for batters, even before the IPL became a high-scoring spectacle. While pacers get some early assistance, the pitch soon flattens out, allowing for big scores. The relatively small boundaries further enhance the ease of scoring. Fans can expect yet another run-fest on Monday in Mumbai.

Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium key stats (IPL 2024)

• Matches - 7, Bat 1st Won – 4, Bat 2nd Won – 3 (2024 IPL)
• Avg 1st Inns score in 2024 IPL – 188/7
• Lowest Total Defended – 169 (by KKR v MI), Highest Target Chased – 197
• 200+ Totals – 4 times in 7 matches | Sixes Per Match - 18
• Pace: Overs% - 74, Wkts – 66, Avg – 29.7, Eco – 9.9
• Spin: Overs% - 26, Wkts – 22, Avg – 25.1, Eco – 7.9

Winning Score at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai (Since 2023 IPL)

• 1st Inns score More than 180: Mts – 4, Bat 1st Won – 3, Bat 2nd Won – 1
• 1st Inns score 180 or below: Mts – 3, Bat 1st Won – 1, Bat 2nd Won – 2

Overall team record:

• Mumbai Indians: Mts – 85, Won – 52, Lost – 33 (Win % - 61)
• Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR): Mts – 17, Won – 5, Lost – 12 (Win % - 29)

2024 Season Record: Mumbai Indians:Mts – 7, Won – 3, Lost – 4 (Win % - 43)

Recent match at Wankhede Stadium

The last IPL game at Wankhede was match number 67 of IPL 2024 between Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants. LSG, after being invited to bat first by MI, put up a huge total of 214 for 6 on the board with the help of half-centuries from Nicholas Pooran (75) and KL Rahul (55). In reply, MI fought valiantly with the help of Rohit Sharma (68) and Naman Dhir (62 not out) but eventually fell 18 runs short of the target, finishing with 196 for 6 after 20 overs.

When: Monday, March 31, 2025, 7:30 PM IST

Where: Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Match 12, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Head to head: MI enjoy an edge in overall face-offs - 23-11 - but KKR have won five of the last six face-offs since the start of the UAE leg of IPL 2021. Remarkably, the visitors won their last encounter at the Wankhede, ending a 12-year drought at the venue.

Wankhede Stadium has hosted 118 IPL matches, with teams batting second having a slight edge, winning 64 times compared to 54 wins for teams batting first. The highest total recorded here is 235 for 1 by Royal Challengers Bengaluru against Mumbai Indians in 2015, while the lowest is 67 all out by Kolkata Knight Riders against MI in 2008.

The most successful run chase at this venue was MI’s 214 for 4 in 19.3 overs against Rajasthan Royals in 2023, whereas the lowest total defended was 118 all out by Sunrisers Hyderabad against MI in 2018. The average first-innings score stands at 170.

AB de Villiers holds the highest individual score at Wankhede with 133 not out off 59 balls for RCB against MI in 2015. Rohit Sharma is the stadium’s leading run-scorer with 2,295 runs in 79 innings, also leading in sixes (97) and fours (218).

The ground has seen a total of 1,608 sixes and 3,447 fours. Rohit also tops the fifty-count with 16, while KL Rahul has registered the most hundreds (2). The best bowling figures belong to Harbhajan Singh (MI) and Wanindu Hasaranga (RCB), both taking 5 for 18. Lasith Malinga remains the highest wicket-taker at Wankhede with 68 wickets in 43 innings.

Did you know?

Rohit Sharma has been dismissed inside the first over seven times since the start of the last IPL cycle in 2022 - the most by any batter in this period. In both the games this season he has not survived beyond the first over. A non-captain with no secondary skill, Rohit is sitting on 16+ crores of Mumbai's purse.

MI's win% of 57.15% at Wankhede is the second most by a team across the last two editions, only behind CSK's 66.67% at Chepauk. In comparison, they have won only five out of the 16 away games in the same period and have lost both their first two games this season away from home

The one player whose career has been synonymous with KKR's MI domination has been Venkatesh Iyer. In the six games he played against MI, KKR ended up winning five and the only loss came in 2023 when he scored a century at the Wankhede.