Kieron Pollard Jerome Taylor Mumbai Indians
Kieron Pollard needs to contribute more, while Jerome Taylor is unlikely to feature against KKR. Pictured: Kieron Pollard and Jerome Taylor walk down to take part in a training session, April 27, 2016IANS

The Mumbai Indians got back to winning ways in their last match, against the Kings XI Punjab, in IPL 2016. Rohit Sharma and co. will now want to turn that into a winning run, starting with the home match at the Wankhede Stadium against KKR.

MI have blown hot and cold, largely cold, this season, winning three and losing four of their seven games in IPL 2016. At their halfway stage of the league phase, MI, the defending champions, would have preferred to be much ahead in the wins column. However, the second phase is where they really find their rhythm and MI will hope it begins with the match against KKR.

To find that rhythm, the Mumbai Indians need to ensure they go into the game against KKR with the right playing XI. Too many times this season, MI have got their team combination wrong, leading to defeats.

The win over the Kings XI Punjab would have given Ricky Ponting's side plenty of confidence, but there are still a lot of chinks to iron out if they are to smash through the opposition and firm a place in the top four of the IPL 2016 points table.

Parthiv Patel was the main man with the bat in that win over the Kings XI Punjab, with his knock of 81 ensuring his place in the playing XI for the foreseeable future. That means Martin Guptill is likely to stay on the bench for a while yet, unless Rohit decides to drop down to No.4 again, which seems unlikely.

However, MI might ponder making a change to one of their overseas players slot, with Kieron Pollard yet to really make a mark in this tournament. Pollard's bowling has become quite ineffective, while his batting remains way too inconsistent, which in turn puts added pressure on the batting and bowling lineups.

Giving Corey Anderson his first game of IPL 2016 might not be a bad idea, or maybe a Guptill can come in with Rohit dropping down to bolster the middle order. Anderson for Pollard seems to make the most sense.

Jerome Taylor has been called in as the replacement for Lasith Malinga, but with someone like Marchant de Lange yet to get an opportunity, it is unlikely that Taylor will play anytime soon.

While MI have been inconsistent this season, KKR have been the opposite. Gautam Gambhir's men have lost just one game in IPL 2016, and while that one loss came against the Mumbai Indians, the Shah Rukh Khan co-owned team look primed for the top place in the standings this season.

Having picked up an away win over the Rising Pune Supergiants in their last game, KKR will probably stick with the same playing XI, barring a late injury.

Manish Pandey will miss this game again with chicken pox, and while Sunil Narine hasn't set the wicket-taking world on fire, he should keep his place in the team, meaning another game on the sidelines for Brad Hogg.

Expected playing XI: Mumbai Indians: Parthiv Patel, Rohit Sharma (C), Ambati Rayudu, Jos Buttler, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell McClenaghan, Tim Southee, Jasprit Bumrah.

KKR: Gautam Gambhir (C), Robin Uthappa, Suryakumar Yadav, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Andre Russell, R Satish, Piyush Chawla, Umesh Yadav, Sunil Narine, Morne Morkel.