Top 5 players to watch out for in the MI vs KKR IPL 2025 match

The defending champions have swiftly regained their momentum in the season after losing their opener against RCB. KKR started their title defense with a defeat against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at home. However, the team, led by Ajinkya Rahane this time, staged a quick turnaround when they faced Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati. Despite Sunil Narine being unavailable for the fixture, Kolkata Knight Riders produced an all-round performance to outclass RR at their home ground. Now, as they gear up for the MI vs KKR IPL 2025 match, the team would arrive on the back of their seamless 8-wicket victory in their second IPL 2025 fixture, a better turn-up than what MI has endured this season so far.

Key players to watch out for in the MI vs KKR IPL 2025 match

Mumbai Indians, infamous for starting their IPL campaign with a defeat, kept the tradition alive as they kick-started IPL 2025 with a 4-wicket defeat against arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings. Rattled in the opening innings by the four-fer of Noor Ahmad at Chepauk, MI couldn't trace a comeback despite their young spinner, Vignesh Puthur, claiming three wickets against the home team. Their second fixture, the GT vs MI match, saw MI dropping Vignesh Puthur along with Will Jacks out of the Playing XI. Hardik Pandya joined the team as the captain after missing out on the opener due to an over-rate ban. However, the skipper could not turn the team's fate around as MI failed to chase 196 in Ahmedabad. Now, as they host KKR at home, MI would hope to kick-start their victory streak in the new season.

Tilak Varma

Noted across the two matches that MI has played so far in IPL 2025, Tilak Varma in the middle, along with Suryakumar Yadav, is doing the heavy lifting for the batting order. Former Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma and his opening partner, Ryan Rickleton, are still finding their forms, providing little to no support at the top. With Tilak returning home for the MI vs KKR IPL 2025 fixture, the batter would hope to impose more impact with his batting prowess. Tilak tried to ride against the tide in both of their previous fixtures. However, he would hope to amp up his strike rate while converting those 30s into big scores. With support from SKY at the other end, Varma could mark his resurgence in the upcoming fixture as he plays his first game of the season at Wankhede.

Hardik Pandya

Mumbai Indians are still to witness the spark that the team hoped for Trent Boult to bring to their pace attack. Both their new additions to the pace lineup, Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar, are yet to deliver a defining performance in IPL 2025. With Jasprit Bumrah also unavailable for the foreseeable future, the need for skipper Hardik Pandya seems amplified in the bowling lineup. Upon his return to the team, the seam all-rounder scalped two wickets, including the dismissal of Gujarat Titans skipper Shubman Gill. While Pandya struggled with the bat, the all-rounder could trace a quick turnaround, having played only one match in the season so far.

Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane impressed right at the start of IPL 2025. Though Kolkata lost the KKR vs RCB fixture in the chase, the match started with Rahane's fiery turn-up. The newly appointed skipper of KKR smashed a half-century at a strike rate past 180. While in the second match, the RR vs KKR IPL 2025 fixture, Rahane could score only 18, the MI vs KKR match brings him to Wankhede. Avid fans would surely remember the fireworks he staged in IPL 2023 at the venue for his debut performance in the CSK camp. While not in IPL, Wankhede is otherwise the home of Rahane, with the batter well accustomed to the conditions. Coming in at No. 3 for KKR, Rahane could make the opportunity count for his team.

Quinton de Kock

The star of the RR vs KKR match in Guwahati, the opener has found his form after a brief fumble right at the start. The South African wicketkeeper-batter partners with Sunil Narine at the top of KKR's batting order. While he faltered at just 1 run against RCB in the opener, the chase against RR was QDK's doing. Chasing 152 against Rajasthan, de Kock smashed an unbeaten 97 to win the match for KKR in just the 18th over. Now, back in form, de Kock, as the KKR opener, is poised as one of the key players to watch out for in the MI vs KKR IPL 2025 match.

Varun Chakravarthy

The mystery spinner has successfully earned a reputation for entering such lists whenever KKR plays. Even when deprived of Sunil Narine, KKR's charge to restrict Rajasthan Royals to just 151 in Guwahati was brilliant. The brilliance involved Chakravarthy, the star of India's title-winning Champions Trophy campaign, who scalped two wickets, giving away only 17 runs in his 4-over spell. A crucial pick in the bowling lineup of the defending champions, KKR would count on Varun Chakravarthy to exploit the conditions in Mumbai in his favor against MI.