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The Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had contrasting IPL 2023 seasons. While Kolkata ended up in seventh position on the points table, Mumbai ended up playing the Qualifier 2 against all odds and arguably punched above their weight.
One glaring similarity between the two sides was the number of explosive batters that were on display. Making a combined XI with so many world-class batters at one's disposal certainly isn't a straightforward task.
While bowling from both sides was average, there were certain individuals on both sides who stepped up and became shining lights in their respective bowling attacks. On that note, let's find out how the combined XI of Mumbai Indians and the Kolkata Knight Riders would look like:
Openers: Ishan Kishan & Jason Roy
Ishan Kishan was under a bit of pressure after a rather inconsistent first half of the IPL 2023 season. However, by the backend of the tournament, he was one of the most significant contributors to MI's success. He scored 454 runs at a strike rate of 142.76 and his ability to keep wickets makes him an easy choice.
Having come in as a replacement player after the likes of Shakib Al Hasan and Shreyas Iyer were deemed unavailable, Jason Roy proved to be just the ideal opener that KKR needed. He amassed 258 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of more than 151, making him another obvious pick here.
Middle-Order: Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell
Cameron Green and Suryakumar Yadav were the backbone of the mighty MI batting in the IPL 2023 season and strung some absolutely vital partnerships. Green was tried at a number of different positions, but his best came at No. 3 where he also scored an IPL hundred. Suryakumar Yadav, after a slow start, came into his own and showed just why he is the No. 1 ranked T20I batter in the world.
Tilak Varma missed out a few matches due to injury, but the impact that both he and Rinku Singh had on their respective franchises make them automatic choices in the lower middle-order. Andre Russell had an inconsistent run with the bat, but his ability to hit the big sixes and also contribute some overs of pace with Green makes him a decent pick here.
Bowlers: Piyush Chawla, Jason Behrendorff, Akash Madhwal, Varun Chakravarthy
Piyush Chawla and Varun Chakravarthy could form an outstanding spin duo for any T20 team, given the experience that they have and the kind of success that they had in the IPL 2023 season. They were the highest wicket-takers for their respective teams and walk into this XI any day.
Jason Behrendorff's trade into MI proved to be a smart move from the management as he picked up form at the backend of the tournament. His wickets in the powerplay coupled with Akash Madhwal's ability to strike in the middle overs as well as the death justifies their mention in this XI.
Impact player: Nehal Wadhera
The Impact Player rule gave a number of young uncapped Indian players a platform to showcase their talent this IPL season. MI are known to groom youngsters and alongside Tilak Varma, they managed to unearth another gem in Nehal Wadhera.
Wadhera played some absolutely crucial knocks for Mumbai and also batted higher up the order when needed. This versatility makes him an easy pick as the impact player for this XI.
