In the 5th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be locking horns with the Mumbai Indians (MI) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday. KKR got off to the perfect start with a 10-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad while, MI  got off to a false start, following a last-ball defeat to the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL 2021 opener.

For KKR, the uncapped duo of Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi for giving them a match-winning total. KKR’s bowling attack seems to have some concerns, but Varun Chakravarthy’s performance should hold him in good stead. Not many changes are expected from the Knight Riders, given the game will be played at the same venue.

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On the other hand, Despite the loss, Marco Jansen’s terrific performance was a big boost for MI. They will be expected to back on the track as they have match-winners like Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav. Here are the 3 player battles to watch out for:

#3 Nitish Rana vs Jasprit Bumrah

Nitish Rana played a crucial role in KKR’s win over SRH as he smashed 80 off just 56 balls with the aid of nine fours and four sixes. He attacked both the pacers and the spinners in a brutal manner. Rana kept finding the big hits on a consistent basis and lifted KKR to an excellent total. The left-hander will be high on confidence going into the clash against MI.

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Against MI, Rana will be facing likes Jasprit Bumrah at the top of the order. The Mumbai lead pacer had another good game against RCB as he got the big wicket of Virat Kohli once again. A confident Rana would look to take on Bumrah. But the latter will all his varied skills would be a tough proposition.