Kolkata Knight Riders will get the Sunil Narine boost in the game against Mumbai Indians. The spinner will return to the defending champions’ playing XI after missing the previous game due to an illness. After losing their IPL 2025 opener to RCB, Rahane and co bounced back with a convincing win against Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati. They will look to carry that momentum into the game at Wankhede, which is also captain Ajinkya Rahane’s home ground.
KKR predicted playing XI vs MI
| Position | Player | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Quinton de Kock (WK)  | Batter |
| 2. | Sunil Narine | All-rounder |
| 3. | Ajinkya Rahane (C) | Batter |
| 4. | Venkatesh Iyer | Batter |
| 5. | Rinku Singh | Batter |
| 6. | Andre Russell | All-rounder |
| 7. | Ramandeep Singh | All-rounder |
| 8. | Spencer Johnson | Bowler |
| 9. | Harshit Rana | Bowler |
| 10. | Vaibhav Arora | Bowler |
| 11. | Varun Chakravarthy | Bowler |
| 12 | Angkrish Raghuvanshi | Impact Player |
Narine returns to top-order
KKR will bank on de Kock and Narine to go all guns blazing at the top-order against MI. Captain Rahane, who is very much familiar with the conditions in his home ground, will be looking to capitalize on the opportunity to play there.
The middle-order comprising Venkatesh, Rinku, Russell and Ramandeep will have to step up their game as they enter MI’s Wankhede fortress, which KKR managed to breach last year.
Meanwhile, Angkrish Raghuvanshi is expected to serve as the impact player.
Bowlers beware!
KKR bowlers will have to be extra careful at the Wankhede, given that a run-fest is on the cards. The pacers will have to do much better, with Russell not having bowled this season yet. Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine will hope to trouble MI batters with their spin tricks.
KKR squad for IPL 2025
Quinton de Kock(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Rinku Singh, Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Spencer Johnson, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Anrich Nortje, Anukul Roy, Luvnith Sisodia, Sunil Narine, Rovman Powell, Mayank Markande, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Chetan Sakariya
