Mumbai Indians vs. Kolkata Knight Riders Prediction

The opener of the Indian Premier League will be played between the previous champions, Mumbai Indians and the formidable Kolkata Knight Riders in Abu Dhabi. Both teams will try to make a first impact of their power with a win which can boost their morale for the matches to come. Rohit Sharma will lead the thrilled Mumbai Indians whereas Gautam Gambhir will marshal the troops of the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Players to watch

Rohit Sharma along with Micheal Hussey are the leading run getters in the IPL while Kieron Pollard can play a fiery knock in the middle. Lasith Malinga is the most lethal bowler of T20 whereas Krishmar Santokie and Pragyan Ojha will assist him nicely.

Gautam Gambhir will try to lead his side from the front with his smooth batting and Jacques Kallis along with Manvinder Bisla will form a reasonable batting combination. Sunil Narine has proved his worth with the ball in all formats of the game while the all round performance of Yusuf Pathan and Shakib Al Hasan will be vital.

Time & Venue

Wednesday, April 16, 2014 @ 14:30 GMT, 18:30 local at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Weather

A bright day with temperatures around 27-36ᵒC

Toss

The winning captain will bat first

The Pitch

A perfect surface for T20

Teams

Mumbai  Indians – Rohit Sharma (C), Corey Anderson, Jasprit Burmah, Marchant de Lange, Ben Dunk, Chidhambaram Gautam, Sheryas Gopal, Harbhajan Singh, Josh Hazlewood, Michael Hussey, Zaheer Khan, Lasith Malinga, Sushant Marathe, Pragyan Ojha, Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Krishmar Santokie, Jalaj Saxena, Pawan Suyal, Aditya Tare, Apoorv Wankhade.

Kolkata Knight Riders – Gautam Gambhir (C), Manvinder Bisla, Piyush Chawla, Pat Cummins, Debabrata Das, Jacques Kallis, Kuldeep Yadav, Chris Lynn, Sayan Mondal, Morne Morkel, Sunil Narine, Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Veer Pratap Singh, Andre Russell, Shakib Al Hasan, Ryan ten Doeschate, Robin Uthappa, Vinay Kumar, Suryakumar Yadav, Umesh Yadav.

Prediction

Mumbai Indians will clinch the game