Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, welcomed the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to this year's IPL by lighting itself up with the team’s colours and showcased the team's logo with the hashtag #HAITAYAAR also visible. Kolkata Knight Riders will begin their campaign on Wednesday when they face defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
KKR took to its official twitter handle to thank them for such a warm welcome and wrote: “Before the fireworks tomorrow, here’s the curtain raiser! we won't stop, on our way to the Top Thank you @BurjKhalifa for lighting up in #KKR colors. What a welcome to the UAE tonight!“
شكران
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) September 22, 2020
Before the fireworks tomorrow, here's the curtain raiser! We won't stop, on our way to the
Thank you @BurjKhalifa for lighting up in #KKR colours.
What a welcome to the UAE tonight! #KKRHaiTaiyaar #IPL2020 #Dream11IPL #BurjKhalifa pic.twitter.com/LgUe9hNdW1
Meanwhile, KKR will be a touch worried going into this contest as they don’t enjoy a good head-to-head record against Mumbai Indians. They have faced off 25 times out of which 19 matches have been won by Mumbai Indians. KKR had some big buys at the auction earlier this year having acquired Australian pace spearhead Pat Cummins and England limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan who will provide strength to their bowling and batting departments respectively.
Since 2013, MI have never won an opening game and the script didn't change against Chennai Super Kings, who took control of the match during the last 10 overs of the first innings.
They will be keen to bounce back while KKR would look for a perfect beginning as it will be a battle between big hitters on both sides on a sluggish Abu Dhabi track.
It will be Shubman Gill's third IPL, the one where he would like to own the stage with his languid grace and effortless hitting, which he is so capable of.
KKR have in Andre Russell one of the most destructive hitters in T20 cricket.
Russell had openly criticised the team management last year for sending him down the order. He had hit 52 sixes during one of KKR's worst editions.
But this time, he has been promised a promotion to number three slot and this could spell doom for any opposition.
KKR has Eoin Morgan, easily the best white ball captain in international cricket at the moment, who could advice Dinesh Karthik on how to tackle tense moments.
Whether he would fit in among the four overseas players is the question as Knights have Narine, Tom Banton, Russell and Cummins, who walk into any T20 playing XI.
For Mumbai, it is important that Nathan Coulter-Nile, with more all-round T20 utility compared to Trent Boult, gets fit to add more balance.
On Saturday, despite a strong start, Mumbai Indians were reduced to 162/9 and they could think about using Ishan Kishan's explosive firepower rather than Saurabh Tiwary, who can't rotate the strike with ease.
Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah had a rare off-day, leaking 43 runs against CSK and he would like to hit the straps once again.
Apart from pacers and spinners Krunal Pandya and Rahul Chahar, they need one more option in the bowling and that can be in the form of Pandya and Kieron Pollard.
Both Hardik and Pollard, who did not bowl against CSK can jointly share the responsibility of another bowler.
With PTI inputs