Still in with a chance to make the playoffs, current IPL holders Mumbai Indians will take on 2007 champions Rajasthan Royals at the fortress Wankhede stadium on Sunday evening in a game which could be a virtual knock-out game.
Still in with a chance to make the playoffs, current IPL holders Mumbai Indians will take on 2007 champions Rajasthan Royals at the fortress Wankhede stadium on Sunday evening in a game which could be a virtual knock-out game.
The rival teams will go into the game after knowing that Kolkata Knight Riders already clinching the 2nd spot with the Sunrisers Hyderabad already out of contention. Rajasthan are the front-runners to make the knockout stage with 14 points in their kitty and need to just defeat Mumbai to sail through. But it would be difficult task in the Mumbai`s fortress which has been breached just once by Chennai Super Kings.
Rajasthan and Mumbai Indians might even have to settle on net run-rate too if the match goes down to the wire. Mumbai has produced some good performances after the IPL switched back to India following the first phase in the UAE where Rohit Sharma and his men tasted five defeats in a row.
The team has shown character and determination to bounce back from this dismal start and the key thing here is their batsmen are coming into form at the right time. Old warhorse Michael Hussey is striking form and West Indies recruit Lendl Simmons also looking in great touch. MI though might miss the services of Lasith Malinga who is busy representing Sri Lanka in the series in England.
Their recent recruit Praveen Kumar has also suffered some minor injury with already pace veteran Zaheer Khan missing the latter part of the IPL. Skipper Rohit Sharma and the big hitting Kieron Pollard have been good uptill now and can take the game away from the opposition, if settled in well.
Rajasthan Royals, on the other hand, possess a very good line up but need to send their power hitters Brad Hodge and James Faulkner much higher up the order than they had done in their previous games. Captain Shane Watson has to quickly put behind his last game’s first ball duck and look ahead.
Royals’ spin department is a bit of a worry and it was strange to see them use a second leg-spinner, Rahul Tewatia instead of giving a chance to left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla, another player who knows Wankhede as the back of his hand, to complement Pravin Tambe against Punjab .
The Royals, who have a host of Mumbai Ranji Trophy players in their team, need to produce something extraordinary to stop the confident-looking hosts from stealing the march.
Teams:
Rajasthan Royals: Shane Watson (c), Ajinkya Rahane, James Faulkner, Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson, Brad Hodge, Steven Smith, Abhishek Nayar, Ben Cutting, Kane Richardson, Tim Southee, Unmukt Chand, Ankush Bains, Vikramjeet Malik, Rahul Tewatia, Ankit Sharma, Amit Mishra, Deepak Hooda, Rajat Bhatia, Kevon Cooper, Iqbal Abdulla, Dhawal Kulkarni, Pravin Tambe, Karun Nair, Dishant Yagnik.
Mumbai Indians: Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Corey Anderson, Jasprit Bumrah, Marchant de Lange, Ben Dunk, Chidhambaram Gautam, Shreyas Gopal, Harbhajan Singh, Josh Hazlewood, Michael Hussey, Praveen Kumar, Sushant Marathe, Pragyan Ojha, Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Krishmar Santokie, Lendl Simmons, Pawan Suyal, Aditya Tare, Apoorv Wankhade.
