File photo of Rohit Sharma.© BCCI
Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders begin their Indian Premier League 2026 campaign with a clash against each other at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. Ahead of the match, former India opener Krishnamachari Srikkanth shared his bold prediction. He praised MI opener Rohit Sharma and claimed that the player will smash the KKR bowlers. The Ajinkya Rahane-led side will be playing the game in the absence of star pacers Harshit Rana and Matheesha Pathirana. While Rana has been ruled out for the entire season, Pathirana is currently recovering from an injury. The Sri Lankan pacer will miss the initial phase of the tournament.
“KKR used to be a halwa for Rohit Sharma a few years back. He is going to smash their bowling like eating halwa tomorrow. KKR is his badam halwa team. Once KKR comes itself, Rohit is in a comfort zone,” said Srikkanth in a video on his YouTube channel, as quoted by Sportskeeda.
The former India batter also questioned the form of KKR all-rounder Cameron Green. The player had a forgettable T20 World Cup in 2026. He scored only 24 runs in three innings and picked just one wicket.
“There are already murmurs that he’ll only bowl two overs. That’s slacking off on full effort. It’s been an eternity since he has scored runs, also,” said Srikkanth.
Srikkanth, who played for India for over a decade, is confident of MI winning the match against KKR on Sunday.
“MI should win for sure. I would say they hold a 75-25 edge. MI has every base covered and are a 9.5/10 team. KKR actually did a good job in the auction. Mustafizur was a good pick, and if he and Pathirana had been there, they would have had a good balance. Harshit Rana being unfit was a big hit for them,” he said.
“If everyone were available, KKR had a good bowling side. They were actually one of the teams that did a very good job in the auction. But it’s been a complete turn of events after that,” he added.