🏏IPL 2026: KKR vs Mumbai Indians, 65th Match, Eden Gardens🏏 - Page 3

"At around 5pm this evening, Eden Gardens was under covers, but the weather has cleared up and all the covers are off so the toss should take place on time. I saw Hardik Pandya get off the Mumbai Indians team bus, so he should be good to play, but I didn't spot Suryakumar Yadav."

18:30 Local Time, 13:00 GMT: No team has dominated another more in IPL history than Mumbai Indians have dominated Kolkata Knight Riders. They lead this head-to-head 25-11 and earlier this season, it was against Kolkata that Mumbai finally broke their first game winless streak. Whether at the Wankhede or Eden Gardens, Mumbai have traditionally found a way to stay on top in this rivalry. But Kolkata Knight Riders will believe today can be different because unlike Mumbai, they are still alive in the playoff race

For the Mumbai Indians, they became the second side to be eliminated this season. On paper, the squad looked strong enough to challenge for the title, but performances across all three departments never consistently came together. Several senior players endured underwhelming campaigns and the team struggled to build momentum. Still, with two games remaining and wins in two of their last three matches, Mumbai will want to finish the season strongly. They’ve also been boosted by the return of Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav. Hardik missed the last couple of matches, while SKY was unavailable for the previous game. In their absence, Jasprit Bumrah led the side to victory and Mumbai will now hope to build on that momentum. Toss and teams coming up shortly..

KKR had a disastrous start to the season, going winless in their first six games. But they’ve staged a remarkable turnaround, winning five of their next six and keeping themselves in contention for a top-four finish, even if the margin remains tiny. Much of the revival has come through key players rediscovering form. Finn Allen, Cameron Green, Rinku Singh and Varun Chakaravarthy have all stepped up alongside the consistent contributions from Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sunil Narine and Kartik Tyagi. With two matches remaining, the equation is simple - win both and hope results elsewhere go their way. But to do that, they’ll need to overcome a challenge that has troubled them for years: beating Mumbai Indians.

Some team news from both the camps: "Varun Chakaravarthy, who limped in and out of his light and largely obscure training session yesterday, has just marked his run-up at the Eden Gardens. Once done, Varun - still in his flip flops - limped back to the dressing room. Hardik is meeting and greeting people near the match pitch, which he has a look at soon after," informs Pratyush.

Jeet jana paglus 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

Varun s practicing today.

Pitch and conditions: We were welcomed with some thunder and shower a while ago here in the city of joy at the iconic Eden Gardens. Well, this is a very, very quick outfield, but not the biggest playing area. 70 on my left and there's a bias here. Only 58 on my right, straight down is 74. But quick outfield, not a big outfield either. Michael Clarke's with me. What do you make of the pitch, though, Clarkie? Well, I think the rain's gone. The humidity's still here, there's no doubt about it. Look, I think the wicket's super dry, to be honest. Again, when you go down and have a look, you can see there's a little bit of a grass coverage, but it's got that white colour as well, which tells me that's nice and dry. It's the surface underneath that I think it might be a little bit too paced. And I honestly think we're going to see spin play a big part tonight. Even if it doesn't turn big, I think that change of pace, that natural variation, is going to be significant tonight. Yeah, there is always carry here at Eden Gardens, but I agree with you. It looks oppressive, it looks on the drier side. Well, you don't know what the par score is here, so you might want to chase here. If you win the toss, you chase here, and just figure out how this pitch pans out. - Michael Clarke, Deep Dasgupta.

Originally posted by: Viswasruti

Did you know?

- Not once in 12 innings this season have both KKR openers survived the Powerplay.

trauma is eternal gift to a kkr fan

Please no HP as captain

Aj hum shanti se dekhenge..kon kisko pull karta hain