Playing 11 of players to have featured for both MI & KKR in the IPL ft. Suryakumar Yadav
Mumbai Indians (MI) will lock horns with their arch-rivals, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Match 51 of IPL 2024 on Friday (May 3) at Wankhede Stadium.
Mumbai are having an indifferent season this year, with only three wins in 10 games. In the last game, MI could only manage to post 144 on the board, and then failed to defend it as well. It will be crucial for them to win this game and still have an outside chance of qualifying for the playoffs.
On the other hand, the Knight Riders have been impressive with six victories in nine appearances. KKR are coming into this game with a seven-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals, after they chased down the target of 154. They will look to solidify their place in top-2 positions with a win in this fixture.
On that note, let's take a look at the playing XI of players, who have played for both MI & KKR in the cash-rich league.
Top-order: Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Ajinkya Rahane
Chris Lynn has been a standout player in the shortest format of the game. In 40 games for KKR between 2014 and 2019, Lynn slammed 1,274 runs, with 10 fifties and a top score of 93*. He then featured in a single game for MI in 2021 and delivered an impressive knock of 49.
Robin Uthappa garnered 320 runs for Mumbai in the inaugural season and then represented KKR from 2014-19. In total, he amassed over 2,400 runs for KKR, while scoring 660 runs in the title-winning 2014 season.
At No. 3 for this team will be Ajinkya Rahane, who played 10 games for MI from 2008-10. In his solitary season for KKR in 2022, 'Jinx' could contribute only 44 runs.
Middle-order: Suryakumar Yadav, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (c&wk), Ramandeep Singh
The No. 1 T20I batter, Suryakumar Yadav will arrive at No. 4 for this combined team. He was part of KKR from 2014-17 and accumulated over 600 runs in 54 games. Since then, he has been a reliable run-scorer for MI, with over 2,800 runs in 92 appearances.
Nitish Rana played for Mumbai Indians from 2015-17 and has been a part of KKR since 2018. He has scored over 400 runs for Mumbai and mustered more than 2,100 runs for the Kolkata side.
Dinesh Karthik will be the captain and keeper for the side. He played for MI from 2012-13 and scored 748 runs in 36 games. Then, from 2018-21, Karthik played for KKR, while captaining the side in the first three seasons and mustering more than 1,100 runs.
The uncapped all-rounder, Ramandeep Singh, will be the fifth bowling option for this team. He played five games for MI in 2022, scoring 45 runs and picking up six wickets. He has represented KKR in nine games this season, accumulating over 80 runs.
Bowlers: Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Mitchell Johnson, Trent Boult
The two specialist spinners in this XI will be Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla. Harbhajan played 136 games for MI from 2008-17 and scalped 127 wickets, but went wicketless in seven appearances for KKR in 2021.
Meanwhile, Chawla took 66 wickets for the Knight Riders from 2014-19, with 14 coming in the title-winning 2014 season. He played a lone season in 2021 for MI. He has again been playing for them since 2023, picking up 27 wickets.
Mitchell Johnson was a part of the MI side in 2012-13, and helped them win the title by picking up 24 wickets in the final season. He was a part of the KKR side in the 2018 season and scalped two wickets.
Another talented pacer, Trent Boult finds a place in this XI, as he represented KKR in 2017 and took five wickets. Then, he scalped a total of 38 wickets for MI from 2020-21, while winning the title in his first season.