Match 41 - Kolkata vs Mumbai: CrickingDuels Fantasy Guide

This CrickingDuels Fantasy guide is for the match 41 of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season which will be played between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Mumbai Indians (MI). The tournament is running towards its business end and the scenarios to qualify are being calculated now. Mumbai proved too good for the Knight Riders on Sunday and will have to continue having a lid over them to keep their hopes alive in the tournament. Though it will surely not be easy for them as Kolkata pride in playing at their home ground.

Dinesh Karthik will be happy to come back where they belong and would be itching to get a win somehow over their nemesis since 2015. Also, the pressure will ease out on him as they are still nowhere close to the assurance as far as qualifying for the playoffs is concerned. Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, has just found the perfect rhythm for his team and would be eyeing to get on a roll in order to defend their title. Here we bring to you the CrickingDuels Fantasy guide for the game:

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) vs Mumbai Indians (MI)

Batsmen

After going the traditional way in picking the team when these two teams last met, I am taking a huge risk now by not picking Chris Lynn in my team. I am going with Robin Uthappa who smashed his first half-century of the season against the same opposition and Nitish Rana. Also, I am also doing away with Evin Lewis, backing Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav to come good. While Eden Gardens is the favourite venue of Mumbai skipper, Surya has to be in any team given the form he is in.

All-Rounders

Andre Russell is the perfect all-rounder if he is taking wickets with the ball for me. He did it last tie around and so I am going with him. His batting would just be a bonus as far as I am concerned. The other two all-rounders in my team are undoubtedly Hardik Pandya and his brother Krunal Pandya. While the former has suddenly taken this season by storm, the latter has only improved with every game and should play a key role again for his team in the must-win situation.

Wicketkeeper

Here again, I have always preferred to have Ishan Kishan but this time I am experimenting by taking Dinesh Karthik in the team. He has quietly developed himself as the finisher of the team and any points he would give me at the backend of the innings are like gold dust. He has scored runs everytime he has batted which works in his favour as well.

Bowlers

Sunil Narine is an obvious pick given that he will be back to the top of the order with the bat in this game. Also, his bowling spell at the Eden Gardens would be crucial on any given day. Piyush Chawla has opened the bowling more often than not for his team this season and could do it again as Lewis opens the innings for Mumbai. I am going with only one specialist bowler from the visitors and he is Mayank Markande who has bowled beautifully this season. Moreover, he impressed me more in the last game the way he kept on tossing the ball despite being hit for a six by Uthappa.

So here’s our final CrickingDuels Fantasy team for this game: