Kolkata vs. Mumbai, IPL: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info and Preview

The Indian Premier League is back and it begins with an intriguing clash in Kolkata. The tournament promises to deliver explosive action and big hits and begins at the home of the defending champions on Wednesday.

Date: Wednesday, April 8

Time: 8 p.m. local/2:30 p.m. GMT

Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Weather: The news from the weather front isn't too great. AccuWeather.com forecasts a few thunderstorms through the course of the day with a heavy thunderstorm forecast for the evening. These storms can come and go quite quickly, though, so there is some hope. 

TV Info and Live Stream: Sony Six, Star Sports HD, Star Sports 1 (India), Sky Sports (United Kingdom), SuperSport (South Africa), OSN (UAE) SkyTV ( New Zealand), Network Ten (Australia), Channel 9 (Bangladesh), Sportsnet and Omini (Canada), Sports Max (West Indies), Geo Super (Pakistan), Starhub (Singapore).

Overview

The Indian Premier League begins with defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders taking on old rivals Mumbai Indians at Eden Gardens on Wednesday night. The biggest talking point from the season opener has been Sunil Narine’s bowling action. Narine had to undergo testing by the BCCI last week, despite being given clearance to bowl from the testing centre at the University of Loughborough in March.

That is behind them now, though, and everyone can focus on the cricket. Only a handful of players from both teams played in the recently concluded World Cup, so the two teams might take some time to fully hit their straps, but there are some tantalising mini-battles to look forward to.

For KKR, Robin Uthappa's form in last year's tournament (finishing leading run scorer) as well as him finishing top run-getter in the Ranji Trophy will be an integral part of setting a solid foundation for the batsmen to build from. But he'll have to contend with Lasith Malinga's toe-crushing yorkers and Josh Hazlewood's pace. Mumbai have a strong batting lineup, too, with Rohit Sharma and Aaron Finch the most likely to impose themselves on the hosts.

Mumbai have the upper hand over their rivals, having won 10 of the 14 matches played between the two teams. Four of those victories have come at Eden Gardens for Mumbai so the pressure is definitely on the hosts to get off to a good start.

Key players

Kolkata Knight Riders

Sunil Narine will have a lot to prove and will hope that the rain that is forecast doesn’t impact the grip on the ball too much. His mystery spin is useful both in building pressure and making breakthroughs, so KKR will look to him to back up the batsmen.

Mumbai Indians

Aaron Finch had a fair performance during the World Cup, and he will be looking to build on that. Finch has built a reputation of being a fearsome T20 player and will have a chance to prove why during the tournament.

Squads

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Piyush Chawla, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav, Manish Pandey, Pat Cummins, Ryan ten Doeschate, Suryakumar Yadav, Andre Russell, Veer Pratap Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, James Neesham, Brad Hogg, Sumit Narwal, Sheldon Jackson, Aditya Garhwal, Kishan Cariappa, Vaibhav Rawal

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Harbhajan Singh, Corey Anderson, Aditya Tare, Jasprit Bumrah, Josh Hazlewood, Marchant de Lange, Pawan Suyal, Shreyas Gopal, Lendl Simmons, Aaron Finch, Pragyan Ojha, Mitchell McClenaghan, Abhimanyu Mithun, Aiden Blizzard, Akshay Wakhare, Nitish Rana, Siddhesh Lad, Hardik Pandya, Jagadeesha Suchith, Unmukt Chand, Vinay Kumar, Parthiv Patel