All eyes will be on Sunil Narine's battle with Rohit Sharma as Kolkata Knight Riders take on Mumbai Indians in their IPL 2026 opener on Sunday. Although the MI opener has been dominant against KKR, but he has always found it difficult against the off-spinner.
Narine has dismissed Rohit eight times, more than any other bowler in IPL history. Rohit has faced Narine in 21 innings in IPL history, and has managed only 143 runs with a strike rate of 106.71 and 17.87 average.
Against MI, Narine has a tight economy rate of 6.73 and has also taken 31 wickets in 26 games.
For their upcoming game, KKR will be travelling to Mumbai and the match will take place at the Wankhede Stadium.
This year, MI will be looking to end their five-year title drought in the IPL. It has been a while since they held the trophy, which they won five times between 2013-2020. Last year, MI, led by Hardik Pandya, finished in third spot, losing to runners-up PBKS in Qualifier 2.
{{/usCountry}}This year, MI will be looking to end their five-year title drought in the IPL. It has been a while since they held the trophy, which they won five times between 2013-2020. Last year, MI, led by Hardik Pandya, finished in third spot, losing to runners-up PBKS in Qualifier 2.
{{/usCountry}}Other than Narine, KKR also have Varun Chakaravarthy in their bowling line-up. Blessing Muzarabani could also be key for them this season. Meanwhile, they had to release Mustafizur Rahman on BCCI's instructions. Also, Akash Deep and Harshit Rana are out of the tournament due to injuries.
Recently former RCB player Faf du Plessis emphasised the importance of Narine and Varun. "If I was part of the KKR team management, I would ask the groundsman at Eden Gardens to make the wicket spin-friendly. KKR are blessed to have two absolute cannons in Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine," he said.
"They are two of the best T20 spinners in the game right now. Both, Varun and Narine, have to be in the game. If they play on surfaces where they are not in contention, then you are losing those two cannons and your superpower.
"Yes, they can bowl well on any wicket and trouble batters. But for KKR to be successful this IPL, Varun and Narine need to fire. The pitch should be prepared keeping those two players in mind," he added.