IPL 10, Match 10, MI v SRH, Preview: Cracker on cards as Mumbai Indians host defending champions at fortress

Mumbai Indians marked their first points on the board in the points table in IPL 10 after beating Kolkata Knight Riders at home. The iconic Wankhede Stadium has been the fortress for the two-time champions. The sea of blue will be all set to welcome their team against the spirited Sunrisers Hyderabad. Sunrisers look like a very threatening side in the IPL this year. The defending champions have got off to a flying start this season.

SRH beat the Gujarat Lions in their previous match by 9 wickets. Prior to that, they had thumped the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the season opener. Having said that, it is important to note that both their wins have come at their home venue at Hyderabad. This will be their first away game this season and that too on a venue which has been the lucky hunting ground for the hosts Mumbai.

MI had started their campaign on a poor note after having lost against the Rising Pune Supergiant at Pune. They came back strong in the next match and outperformed one of the strongest sides the Kolkata Knight Riders. Now, they are up against the defending champions and the win against KKR will surely lift their spirits for the game against SRH. The team seems to be balanced at the moment and that is something that will be a sigh of relief for the management.

Toss: Mumbai Indians won the toss and opted to field

Quotes from the toss:

David Warner: “We need to be ready in case you lose the toss. Looks like a good wicket to bat on, we need to make the most of the first six overs. Moises is sick tonight, Fizz (Mustafizur Rehman) gets his first game. Vijay Shankar replaces Bipul for his first IPL game.

Rohit Sharma: “We will bowl first. We have been chasing well, it gets a bit dewy towards the end, obvious choice to bat second, but we need to bowl well first. They are a very good batting side, We have to be at our best and restrict them to a modest score and chase down the score. No changes for us, I believe in backing the players, hopefully, they will come good.”

Playing XI:

Mumbai Indians: Parthiv Patel(w), Jos Buttler, Nitish Rana, Rohit Sharma(c), Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah

Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh, Deepak Hooda, Vijay Shankar, Naman Ojha(w), Ben Cutting, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Ashish Nehra, Mustafizur Rahman

Focus will be on

Rashid Khan

The young Afghanistan leggie became the first man to be handed the Purple Cap this season. He was brilliant with the ball against the Gujarat Lions as he returned with figures of 3/19. He has 5 wickets to his name in the two matches he has played thus far. He will be the player to watch out for as he had been used pretty well by skipper David Warner in the previous match. He bowled in the powerplay in the previous match and had succeeded as well. He dismissed the big names of Brendon McCullum, Aaron Finch and Suresh Raina.

Rohit Sharma

Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma has been the key player for the Mumbai franchise. He was the leading run scorer for the team in the previous edition of the tournament. However, he has looked a bit off color in the season thus far. He has been used in the middle order and his batting position remains undecided for the team. Rohit batted at number 3 in the first match and then played at number 4 in the second game. But, he failed to score on both the occasions.

Team Combination – Mumbai Indians

Going by the history, it is very unlikely that the Mumbai team will tinker with their winning combination. They have been known for sticking to their playing eleven in the past after registering a win. Jos Buttler and Parthiv Patel look settled as the openers. Nitish Rana, the youngster, has come up great in the first two matches of the season. The experience of Rohit Sharma that follows next makes it a settled top four. The problem arises in the middle order with the likes of Krunal Pandya and Kieron Pollard not firing in the first two matches.

The problem arises in the middle order with the likes of Krunal Pandya and Kieron Pollard not firing in the first two matches. Harbhajan Singh needs to step up and perform. Hardik Pandya has emerged to be the same star that he was in the 2015 edition. His high scoring and hard hitting abilities has come to the fore yet again. The bowling department looks very set with Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga and Mitch McClenaghan firing in the pace department.

Team Combination – Sunrisers Hyderabad

The Sunrisers Hyderabad have a perfectly balanced side on cards at the moment. They have won their first two matches in a convincing manner and look good for more. Their batting has looked absolutely magnificent and their bowling has been up to the mark as well. David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan have been the settled openers for the team. With the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Moises Henriques in the middle order, they have some serious stability on the cards.

Ben Cutting has proved to be the powerful finisher for them and his fielding antics have been an added benefit for them. In the bowling department, they arguably have the strongest bowling lineup. Indian pacers like Ashish Nehra and Bhuvneshwar Kumar give some serious experience at hands for the Sunrisers. Bipul Sharma and Rashid Khan are the two spinners in the line up. Rashid is the Purple Cap holder and Bipul Sharma has been doing his bit as well.

StatAttack

191 – Krunal Pandya had the strike rate of 191 in IPL 2016 – the highest for any batsman in the tournament.

143 – Number of wickets taken by Lasith Malinga in the IPL history. He is the leading wicket-taker in the IPL.

3874 – Number of runs scored by Rohit Sharma in IPL history. He is the third leading run scorer in the IPL history behind Virat Kohli (4110) and Suresh Raina (4098).