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.
3) Jayant Yadav for Krunal Pandya
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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