"They surrender against Narine's bowling" - Aakash Chopra picks Sunil Narine among KKR players to watch out for in IPL 2024 clash vs MI

Ahead of the Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) IPL 2024 clash against the Mumbai Indians (MI) in Kolkata on Saturday, May 11, Aakash Chopra has noted that Sunil Narine enjoys an upper hand against the visiting batters. The spinner registered figures of 2/22 in four overs in KKR's 24-run win in the reverse fixture in Mumbai on May 3.

With 16 points from 11 games, KKR are perched atop the points table. A win against MI on Saturday will help them seal their spot in the playoffs.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra chose Narine, primarily for his bowling, as the first KKR player to watch out for in Saturday's game.

"Both openers - one is an all-rounder and the other is explosive. I want to go towards both of them once again. So let's start with Sunil Narine. He has been absolutely brilliant. He didn't fire with the bat last time (against MI) and now also I feel he will have some difficulties because they will bowl full and bouncers," he explained (7:45).

"They will try to trouble him a little. Mumbai will come with planning. Their bowling has not been very good thus far but there is a possibility that they might trap Narine. However, they surrender against Narine's bowling. So I feel Narine will have a contribution there. So Sunil Narine will be my first player to watch out for," the former India opener added.

Narine has picked up 14 wickets at an economy rate of 6.61 in 11 games in IPL 2024. Although he was dismissed for a run-a-ball eight in the away game against MI, the left-handed opener has smashed 461 runs at a strike rate of 183.66 in 11 innings this season.

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"His numbers at this ground are incredible" - Aakash Chopra on KKR's Phil Salt

Phil Salt has amassed 429 runs at a strike rate of 183.33 in 11 innings in IPL 2024. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra picked Phil Salt as the second Kolkata Knight Riders player in focus at the Eden Gardens.

"After that, Phil Salt is once again an attacking opener and his numbers at this ground are incredible. He likes this pitch a lot. The ball comes nicely onto the bat. I would definitely say one thing - keep a fielder at point if you want to bowl full because catches are dropped there and he gets out as well," he elaborated (8:25).

The cricketer-turned-commentator chose Angkrish Raghuvanshi as the third KKR player to watch out for against MI.

"The third player is Angkrish Raghuvanshi. He is a phenomenal player, the way he has started his career. He scored a half-century in the first match. He scored runs in the last match he played as well. He is a very good player," Chopra said.

Raghuvanshi has aggregated 163 runs at a strike rate of 155.23 in seven innings in IPL 2024. The youngster, who scored a six-ball 13 in the previous game against MI, will want to make a more substantial contribution this time.