IPL 2020: KKR vs MI Game Plan 1 – Tackling the Genius of Sunil Narine

The fifth match of the IPL 2020 tournament between the blockbuster teams, Kolkata Knight Riders, could all be about match-ups. We take a look at a key game plan that could play a role in the fifth game of IPL 2020 – KKR vs MI.

KKR vs MI Game Plan – Should MI go aggressive or defensive against Narine?

Sunil Narine is coming into IPL 2020 on the back of a successful CPL campaign where he played a key role in Trinbago Knight Riders’ victory, even though he missed several games. In the five games he featured in, he took 6 wickets at an average of 15.2 and gave just 4.55 runs per over which was the 3rd lowest economy the whole season, albeit in a rather low-scoring tournament, to go with two fifties while opening the batting.

Narine in the IPL as well, has been one of the most frugal bowlers since its inception; he has an economy rate of 6.67 despite playing in 110 matches. Mumbai Indians is one of Narine’s favored oppositions; he has 21 wickets against them and strikes every 18 balls. He has troubled several batsmen in this MI lineup in particular, particularly Rohit Sharma whom he has dismissed 6 times (his most frequent victim).

Apart from the MI skipper, he has also had the better of Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Quinton de Kock and Suryakumar Yadav, all of whom have failed to score quickly against the lad from Trinidad. Add to that Narine’s newly remodeled action, where he hides the ball behind his hip during the run-up, it becomes even harder for these batsmen to pick his variations.

Mumbai can afford to see off Narine’s spell as they have the firepower to make up for it at the back end. However, often while taking the defensive approach, batting teams tend to lose 1-2 wickets off a few peach deliveries.

KKR vs MI Game Plan – The Narine threat

Hence, being proactive could be the better way to go against KKR’s bowling lynchpin. As shown in the above chart, Hardik Pandya has a stunning record against Sunil Narine. In fact, among batsmen with a similar sample size, Hardik Pandya is the second fastest scorer ever against Sunil Narine in the IPL.

AlSO READ: The other Sunil who opens the batting

With the likes of Kieron Pollard and Krunal Pandya in MI’s middle order, the Mumbai management can think of promoting Hardik Pandya up the order to take on Sunil Narine. Even on a ground as big as Abu Dhabi, MI’s premier all-rounder smacked two huge sixes in the opener, and there would’ve been more fireworks if not for a brilliant leaping catch from Faf du Plessis. Although he was dismissed for 14, he looked in very good touch and taking into account his head-to-head with Narine, there is a very viable chance he can tee off early.