Without a win in their last four games, defending champions Mumbai Indians are now finding themselves rocked bottom of the IPL table and with an opposition like the Sunrisers Hyderabad that could leave them winless in five.
Without a win in their last four games, defending champions Mumbai Indians are now finding themselves rocked bottom of the IPL table and with an opposition like the Sunrisers Hyderabad that could leave them winless in five. Mumbai will lock horns against the Men from Hyderabad in the first leg of IPL in the UAE on Wednesday.
This game will be seen as Mumbai Indians’ last chance to redeem themselves before the lucrative league shifts its base back home in India. This is a perfect opportunity for the title holders will to open their account against a lowly Sunrisers side that are just a shade better with only a win and three losses.
Mumbai though feel will that the batting has been fallen flat since the tourney began. Despite some big names in their ranks, the likes of skipper Rohit Sharma, Mike Hussey, Corey Anderson and Kieron Pollard have failed to fire. The team has clearly missed the services of Sachin Tendulkar in their side while Ambati Rayadu still remains a positive sign in the.
As far as the bowling is concerned, Indian veterans, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh might have their hands full.
T20 World Cup winning skipper Lasith Malinga has been economical as well as amongst wickets but has failed to fire the Mumbai side to glory but the ‘Slinga Malinga’ has the capabilities to make a comeback.
The Sunrisers on the other hand will bank heavily on the Aussie duo of Aaron Finch and David Warner to give a rollicking start at the top. Skipper Shikhar Dhawan has failed to deliver with the bat and need to deliver the goods against a struggling Mumbai team. The middle-order with the likes of Lokesh Rahul, Venugopal Rao and Darren Sammy also need to chip in.
Bowling spearhead Dale Steyn and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been pretty consistent, while leg-spinners Amit Mishra and Karn Sharma have also been decent. Mumbai’s batting has been pretty abysmal and this could work against the Hyderabad side who has an advantage in the pace department.
Teams (from):
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (C), Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh, Ambati Rayudu, Michael Hussey, Zaheer Khan, Pragyan Ojha, Corey Anderson, Josh Hazlewood, CM Gautam, Aditya Tare, Apoorv Wankhade, Marchant de Lange, Krishmar Santokie, Ben Dunk, Pawan Suyal, Sushant Marathe, Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Gopal, Jalaj Saxena.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Dale Steyn, David Warner, Darren Sammy, Amit Mishra, Aaron Finch, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Brendan Taylor, Moises Henriques, Venugopala Rao, Jason Holder, S Aniruddha, Manprit Juneja, KL Rahul, Amit Paunikar, Naman Ojha, Ricky Bhui, Ashish Reddy, Chama Milind, Parveez Rasool, Prashanth Parameshwaran, Karn Sharma.
