IPL 10, Match 16, MI v GL, Preview: Lions set to take on Mumbai Indians at the fortress

The Gujarat Lions were back to their winning ways after registering their first win this season against the Rising Pune Supergiant. On the very same day, the Mumbai Indians thumped the Royal Challengers Bangalore at their home venue in Mumbai. So, both teams registered a win in their most recent matches and hence are keen on continuing the winning momentum.

Mumbai Indians have been having a very good run in the season thus far. Barring the one odd defeat that they faced in their first game of the season, they have looked largely impressive for three successive wins this season. They have got their combinations balanced on the paper and the players are chipping in with key contributions. On the other hand, the Gujarat Lions do not find themselves at a peaceful place though.

Albeit they are likely to play the same side in the match against MI that they fielded with against the Rising Pune Supergiant, they do not have the stability on the cards. They have vulnerable players in their lineup who have failed to be up to the mark when it comes to consistency. The Lions will depend a lot on their top order to click in this particular game as well.

Toss: Mumbai Indians won the toss and opted to field

Suresh Raina: We just need to start well. We’ve been chasing well. Last game, we batted well. We’ll look to score and see what happens. The wicket looks pretty dry. It might get slower. Hopefully, we post a good score and defend. We have 2 changes. Finchy misses out, unfortunately, his kit bag didn’t arrive. Jason Roy and Munaf Patel come in for Finch and Jakati.

Rohit Sharma: We are gonna field first. Wicket looks pretty dry. The ball is going to skid on We are expecting some dew in the last 10 overs and we’ve been chasing well. We’ve got only one change. Malinga is fit and comes in for Southee. The feeling is good among the group. We always wanted to start well. We’re happy with the way the things are going on. Credit goes to everyone. We’ve come out and expressed ourselves. We’re playing for a cause. 18000 kids are out here to watch us play and hope we don’t disappoint them.

Focus will be on

Rohit Sharma

The Mumbai Indians skipper has been a big failure in the 4 matches for his team in the tournament thus far. He has failed to get in the double digits in the 4 outings with the bat till now. His vulnerability against the spin bowling has been evident and that is something the Mumbai camp will be worried about. Coming into the game, he will be under a lot of pressure to perform given the kind of dry run he has had post his return from the injury. He has been dismissed by the spinners in all the 4 matches till now.

Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja made his appearance in the IPL this year during the previous fixture of the Lions. He looked a little rusty and posed little or no threat for the opposition. His recent form has been stunning though. Jadeja rose to the top of the bowlers’ rankings in the longest format of the game recently. However, it needs to be seen how he translates his good Test form to limited overs form. He gave 40 runs in his quota of 4 overs in the previous match.

Andrew Tye

Andrew Tye had a dream debut in the match against Rising Pune Supergiant. He scalped a hat-trick in the match and ended up with a five-wicket haul to his name. Tye is a renowned T20 specialist and has been a consistent performer in the domestic circuit in Australia. Tye ended up with the figures of 5/17 in his quota of 4 overs. He needs to ensure that he is not a one match wonder and can be the overseas bowler that the Gujarat Lions have been longing for.

Team Combination – Mumbai Indians

The Mumbai Indians seem to have found the ideal playing combination. Their batting did fail big time in the previous match – the top order to be precise. But the team management can surely consider it to be a rare failure and get along with the same line up. Lasith Malinga is the only change that could be seen in the line up. Malinga is likely to make it to the playing eleven at the expense of Tim Southee.

The batting has been top notch. Jos Buttler and Parthiv Patel can be deadly at the top order. Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Nitish Rana and Hardik Pandya have all got runs under their belt in one or more matches this season. Rohit Sharma has been the only player who is yet to find his feet at the crease this season. If Rohit gets going, things might just align perfectly for Mumbai. They will be playing at their fortress, the Wankhede Stadium. They have a prolific record at the venue.

Team Combination – Gujarat Lions

The Gujarat Lions will most likely play with the same side that played against RPS. Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum look like a very settled combination at the top order. The Lions can be proud to have finally found a good combination at the top order. In the middle order, the likes of Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik have got starts and they just need to get a big score under their names. Aaron Finch had come good in the previous match against RPS and had scored quick runs on the occasion.

In the bowling lineup, they have the likes of Praveen Kumar and Basil Thampi, who have managed to contain the run flow. However, they have failed to be the wicket taking options for the team. Andrew Tye made a very impressive start to his career and will be a key player to watch out for in the next game as well.

Playing XI:

Gujarat Lions: Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Jason Roy, Suresh Raina(c), Dinesh Karthik(w), Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Andrew Tye, Basil Thampi, Munaf Patel

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

StatAttack

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

3883 – Number of runs scored by Rohit Sharma in IPL history. He is the third leading run scorer in the IPL history behind Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina.

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

150 – Suresh Raina became the first player to feature in 150 IPL games.