No Eden, but Iyer’s den!

Kolkata Knight Riders, like Chennai Super Kings, can’t enjoy any home comfort, but they do have a captain playing on familiar soil in Game One of IPL-15 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai tonight

The Indian Premier League’s 15th edition will get underway today with a host of new aspects. Two new teams will make an appearance and 70 league matches will be hosted across three stadiums in Mumbai and one in Pune.  And for the first time, two new captains will open the proceedings; Ravindra Jadeja leading the Chennai Super Kings and Shreyas Iyer captaining the Kolkata Knight Riders as the last year’s IPL finalists take the field under the Wankhede Stadium floodlights.  Mumbai-based Iyer could enjoy the comfort of playing on his homeground. 

While CSK are in a position to play their best XI, barring Moeen Ali’s unavailability due to a mandatory three-day quarantine, KKR are worst hit with Australian stars Aaron Finch and Pat Cummins on national duty in Pakistan and New Zealand pacer Tim Southee set to miss the opening game after joining the team bubble late due to his marriage. KKR’s poor record at the Wankhede could be another concern with just one win from 11 games. However, their coach Brendon McCullum is not sweating over this Wankhede track record. “We look to go in with a heavy Indian seam bowling line-up. Umesh Yadav was a good pick in the auction. He is a wicket-taker and his statistics in the Powerplay are quite good,” he said on Friday. 

KKR poor at Wankhede

Just five months ago, KKR missed a golden opportunity to clinch their third IPL title when they lost to CSK by 27 runs in the final at Dubai on October 15. They had a terrific turnaround when the tournament was rescheduled in the UAE after Covid-19 gripped India. Before the tournament moved to the UAE, KKR had just two wins from the first seven games. They then won seven matches from the remaining 10 games, something that McCullum is very proud of.

“I was immensely proud of what we were able to achieve last year, especially where we were at the halfway stage of the tournament; to [go] where we got and the style of cricket that we played. There were real lessons to learn not just from the franchisee point of view, but [also] from the coaching point of view. If we get the boys to understand the style of play you want and get them to buy into it, then we can be a really powerful unit. We didn’t win the [2021] final, but we had a really good tournament in the end,” he said.

‘Revenge not on mind’

So, will revenge be on the mind? “Revenge doesn’t really come in my make-up. We played a good final. Chennai were too good on that day. We got our opportunities, but we could not get over the line. It is not a revenge thing at all for us, but it will be nice to start the tournament well against a very good side, who have a slight change in their direction as well with MS Dhoni relinquishing the captaincy to Jadeja,” said McCullum.

The former New Zealand dasher is excited to team up with Shreyas. “He has the potential to be a real superstar. I met him five years ago and we clicked a picture together. He was playing for Delhi and I was playing for Gujarat [Lions]. We exchanged phone numbers, but he never called me because he was too intimidated (laughs). And here he is, already captaining the franchisee and a big star in India. He has a nice and warming presence and is willing to learn,” said the coach.

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