Kamal Ghorui
Kris Srikkanth has backed Rohit Sharma to deliver against Kolkata Knight Riders in Mumbai Indians’ IPL 2026 opener, pointing to the batter’s record against the side.Speaking on his YouTube channel, the former India cricketer said Rohit has often been comfortable against KKR and expects that trend to continue at the Wankhede Stadium.
“KKR used to be like 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, Rohit is in a comfort zone,” Srikkanth said while talking on his YouTube channel, as cited by India Today website.Mumbai Indians will face KKR on Sunday, with Rohit expected to play a key role at the top. KKR, meanwhile, are likely to rely on Sunil Narine, who has had success against Rohit in the past.Rohit’s numbers against KKR highlight his record in this match-up. He has scored 1,083 runs against them at a strike rate of 127.86, including six half-centuries and one century. His highest score is an unbeaten 109 at Eden Gardens.At the Wankhede Stadium, Rohit has made 238 runs against KKR at a strike rate of 120.81. However, his recent returns against them have been lower, with his last half-century against KKR coming in 2020.Despite that, Rohit’s approach in T20 cricket has changed in the past two seasons. After maintaining a strike rate of around 133 between 2016 and 2023, he increased it to 150 in 2024 and 149.28 in 2025.Mumbai Indians will begin their campaign looking to end a five-year gap since their last title. The team last won the IPL in 2020 and has five titles between 2013 and 2020.In the previous season, the side led by Hardik Pandya finished third after losing to Punjab Kings in Qualifier 2.The squad includes several players from India’s T20 World Cup-winning group. Suryakumar Yadav, Pandya, Tilak Varma and Jasprit Bumrah form the core as Mumbai Indians begin their new season.
