Mumbai will take the field at Eden Gardens hoping to bounce back after their loss in the inaugural game at the Wankhede. They will want to break their recent habit of losing their first several matches of the season; Mumbai lost their first four games last year, and their first five in 2014. After their horror show against Pune Supergiants, they would perhaps do best to hit the mental reset button and start afresh.

The first two matches of IPL 2016 were won by similarly large margins – nine wickets in hand and 30-odd balls to spare. The first game featured Mumbai Indians, at the Wankhede Stadium. The second had Kolkata Knight Riders playing at Eden Gardens. While Knight Riders found themselves on the right side of the result, Mumbai suffered a shocker at home against newcomers Rising Pune Supergiants.

Knight Riders would be pretty pleased with the current state of affairs. Their big win against Delhi Daredevils gave them a handy head-start on the net run-rate front. An excellent all-round effort from their bowlers was followed by a solid showing by their top three batsmen. Their strong spin-bowling department is perfectly suited to the pitches on offer at Eden Gardens. Come Wednesday, Knight Riders will be confident of improving their 5-11 record against Mumbai.

As an overseas spinner, Brad Hogg is in direct competition with Sunil Narine for a spot in Knight Riders’ best XI. With Narine getting back to India only on Tuesday night, he is unlikely to play on Wednesday, making Hogg a certain starter for the Mumbai game. If Hogg can follow up his fine showing against Daredevils with more of the same against Mumbai, Knight Riders may have to seriously consider accommodating both in the team going forward.

Hardik Pandya’s stock has risen substantially over the past few months, as an India debut in January was followed by some good performances in the Asia Cup and World T20. However, he still has some distance to go if he is to prove his worth as a genuine all-rounder, as opposed to a bit-part player capable of flashes of brilliance. After a tame performance in the IPL opener, he will want to make a greater impact this time around.

Squads

Kolkata Knight Riders (probable): 1 Robin Uthappa (wk), 2 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 3 Manish Pandey, 4 Colin Munro, 5 Suryakumar Yadav, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Piyush Chawla, 9 John Hastings, 10 Brad Hogg, 11 Umesh Yadav

Mumbai Indians (probable): 1 Parthiv Patel, 2 Rohit Sharma (capt), 3 Lendl Simmons/Corey Anderson, 4 Jos Buttler (wk), 5 Ambati Rayudu, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Kieron Pollard, 8 Shreyas Gopal, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Mitchell McClenaghan, 11 Jasprit Bumrah