Expect some fireworks for the highly-versatile Cameron Green along with Quinton de Kock, Matheesha Pathirana, Venkatesh Iyer and Ravi Bishnoi.
Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Ajinkya Rahane admitted that his batters lacked 'game awareness' in their defeat to Punjab Kings.
It was a track where batters made merry after LSG put on 238 for 3 before KKR fell just four runs short as over 400 runs were scored.
Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani returned a five-wicket haul as a dominant Mumbai crushed Himachal Pradesh by an innings and 120 runs.
The unexpected 10-day break has left both the RCB and the KKR with different goals to achieve and common challenges to hurdle over.
Ajinkya Rahane's tansformation impresses CSK coach
He also highlighted the team's focus on playing good cricket and improving in areas like fielding.
Shreyas Iyer had led KKR to their first IPL title in a decade last year. However, on Saturday, he returns as captain of a rejuvenated Punjab Kings chasing a play-off spot.
Having joined the four-time champions this season, Rahane lit the Wankhede as he hammered the fastest fifty this IPL season.
Shardul Thakur bowled 8 full tosses, conceded 9 runs and took 2 wickets. It's early days and Thakur's season has seen him enjoy mixed fortunes, His figures of 2 for 52 were lucky breakthroughs but he is a great wicket-taking option.
'We're getting vaccinated not only for ourselves but also for those around us.'
With a power-packed batting line-up, match-winning spinners and a solid pace attack, champions KKR are once again the team to beat.
Kolkata Knight Riders will have little motivation left when they take on also ousted Sunrisers Hyderabad in an inconsequential IPL game in New Delhi on Sunday.
Magnificent fifties by openers Virat Kohli and Phil Salt guided RCB to a comfortable seven-wicket win over defending champions KKR.
'Iron body with heart of a Lion. Mohammed Siraj.'
Mhatre's maiden ton, Dube blitz fire Mumbai to seven-wicket win over Vidarbha
'I have always played wherever the team wanted me to play. Team thinking has always come first.'
Rahane can be seen playing shots both on the backfoot and the frontfoot.
Virat Kohli clicked a selfie with team-mates Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur.
Mumbai were steady at 113 for two at one stage but Rekhade, playing only his second First-Class match, ripped open the Ranji champions' batting line-up, first with an innocuous delivery which claimed the prized scalp of Ajinkya Rahane in the 41st over.
Perhaps, another Ranji title with Mumbai will be a fitting send off for Ajinkya Rahane.
Rohit Sharma holds the record for leading India to the most victories in T20 Internationals.
Seasoned India batter Ajinkya Rahane led by example with a 32-ball fifty as defending champions Mumbai got off to a winning start, beating Haryana by eight wickets in the Syed Mushtaq Ali domestic T20 in Jaipur on Monday.
After dismissing KKR Skipper Ajinkya Rahane, he came up with the move popularised by Telugu star Allu Arjun in the blockbuster movie Pushpa.
Bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur will also be aiming to continue his dream run for Mumbai so far.
The Delhi Capitals will be looking to improve their batting performance in the middle overs when they face a struggling Kolkata Knight Riders in their Indian Premier League match on Tuesday.
Ajinkya Rahane and wife Radhika Dhopavkar were blessed with a baby girl on Saturday.
That's the strange way Indian cricketers celebrate team-mates's birthdays, by smashing cake on the birthday boy's face.
A clinical Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) thrashed a completely disoriented Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by eight wickets in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match in Chennai on Friday.
Ahead of the mini-auction, scheduled to be held in Doha on December 26, the 10 franchises have released their list of retained and released players.
IMAGES from the IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday
Ajinkya Rahane will be plying his trade for the English county side Leicestershire in Division 2, after the two-Test series against the West Indies next month.
Here are clicks from an evening celebrating Mumbai's memorable triumph...
Sanjay Manjrekar reveals Rahane's mindset for the WTC Final
'The man who led India to its greatest ever overseas Test series win. Happy Birthday @ajinkyarahane88.' 'May God give you the strength to fight every challenge.'
As many as 16 wickets fell on the opening day as visitors Hyderabad were left reeling at 88/6 after bundling out Jammu and Kashmir for 170 on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match in Jammu on Sunday.
KKR spinner Chakravarthy, who bagged two wickets, gestured to CSK's Dewald Brewis to leave the field after dismissing him for 52 in the IPL match in Kolkata on Wednesday.
'Having interacted with Ajinkya Rahane, I know he has a very smart brain and he is balanced.'
'The Goal is clear, to make another comeback to Team India. There is a belief in me that I will make a comeback.'
Ajinkya Rahane feels that the most memorable thing for him about their record-extending Ranji Trophy triumph is everyone played as a team.
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