IPL 10, Match 2, RPS v MI Preview: Settled Mumbai Indians, new look Supergiant lock horns in Maharashtra derby

Both teams have played each other twice and have registered one win each.

View : 10K

2 Min Read

Jasprit Bumrah Mumbai Indians
info
Mumbai Indians. (Photo: Nitin Lawate/IANS)

The stage is set for the big Maharashtra derby at the MCA Stadium in Pune. The Rising Pune Supergiant are up against the Mumbai Indians in the second match of the Indian Premier League 2017. Both teams had contrasting fortunes in the previous edition of the tournament. While the Rohit Sharma-led MI had started blooming towards the end of the tournament but eventually crashed out, the MS Dhoni-led side had ended at the penultimate position in the points table last season.

Now the captaincy hat in the RPS camp has been passed on to Australian skipper Steve Smith. They will hope that their fortunes change as well. These two sides had locked horns in the season opener last year and it was the RPS side who had inflicted a thumping 9 wicket win in that match. The next time these two sides met at the very same venue where they meet on April 6 this year, it was the Mumbai Indians who had a revenge win taken with a win margin of 8 wickets.

So the head to head clashes between the two sides reveal nothing at the moment. Also, the season has changed and both teams have had their homework done. Coming in to the game, the Mumbai look like a sorted unit as they will most likely play the same unit that featured for them last year. They have a strong core that has been with them ever since the first edition of the tournament. However, on the contrary, the RPS franchise will have a revamped set up to play with.

Focus will be on:

Ben Stokes (Rising Pune Supergiant)

English all-rounder Ben Stokes will have all the eyes glued to him in the match. He was the most expensive player at the IPL auctions this year and hence it comes as no surprise that the fans will be keen on watching how he fares up. In his most recent tour to India, he showed great form in the Test series. More importantly, in the limited overs fixtures as well, he struck some brilliant cameos and settled in the role of the finisher for the side. He was in great form during the West Indies tour as well.

K Gowtham (Mumbai Indians)

The Mumbai franchise roped in the services of Karnataka all-rounder K Gowtham this season. The franchise showed great interest in buying him and having him on the roster. Hence, there is a very good chance that he might get a go in the match. He is rated very highly as an off spinner who can use the long handle with the bat. He is known as the junior Bhajji among his team mates in the state cricket.

Jasprit Bumrah (Mumbai Indians)

Team India’s most successful death bowler in the shorter formats of the game, Jasprit Bumrah, will have a lot of eyes set on him. The last time he played for the national side, he set the tone for India’s win over England in the limited overs series. Now, with the absence of Lasith Malinga from the side for the match, he will have to shoulder the responsibility of the death bowling for his side. The opposition boasts of finishers like Ben Stokes and MS Dhoni. Hence, the only bowler who can potentially be a big stepping stone for them would be Bumrah.

Toss: RPS won the toss & elected to field first.

Quotes from the toss:

Rohit Sharma: It’s been a long time, and we are all ready to go. It has been a good journey. Last year wasn’t great. We want to change the fortunes this time around. We are actually playing with 6 batters, Mitchell Mcclenaghan is back. We have got Southee as well. Both Pandya brothers are in.

Steve Smith: We are gonna have a bowl. We like chasing and there will be a bit of dew later on. Little bit more grass and I’m hoping this is a good T20 wicket. We got some really good squad. We have trained well in the last week. We have got a good squad.

Rising Pune Supergiant – Team Combination

As the newly appointed Rising Pune Supergiant captain Steve Smith noted, the team will have a serious task at hand in putting forward the starting eleven. They have a lot of players in their pool to pick from. Unlike last year, when they had very few options to pick from, this year they have a plethora of overseas options to play with. Aussie batsman Usman Khawaja might get a break this season yet again to bat at the top along with Ajinkya Rahane. The middle order looks solid with the likes of Steve Smith and Faf du Plessis taking the duties.

The finishing role can well be handled by Ben Stokes and MS Dhoni. The only department where they will be tested is their bowling. If they play a certain Khawaja in the line up, they will not have room for someone like Adam Zampa. Hence, they will have a tough job at hand picking the bowlers. In case, the management opts for Zampa considering the slow nature of the track, Mayank Agarwal will open alongside Rahane. Deepak Chahar might walk in the side and Rajat Bhatia will get his quota of full overs.

Mumbai Indians – Team Combination

The MI side have been bolstered by the return of their skipper Rohit Sharma. However, whether he is match fit or not, remains to be seen. He will surely get in to the game on a shaky ground. The Sri Lankan duo of Asela Gunaratne and Lasith Malinga have not joined the squad yet. MI might go in with the Kiwi duo of Mitch McClenaghan and Tim Southee in their pace department.

While McClenaghan is a certain starter, there will be selection conundrums over picking up one from Southee and Mitchell Johnson. Kieron Pollard and Jos Buttler will be the two overseas players who can consider their spots in the lineup to be fixed at the moment. Rohit might open with Parthiv Patel and could be followed by Ambati Rayudu, Saurabh Tiwary and Hardik Pandya. Krunal Pandya will also be automatically drafted in the line up after his heroics in the previous season.

Playing XI:

Rising Pune Supergiant: Ajinkya Rahane, Mayank Agarwal, Steven Smith(c), Manoj Tiwary, MS Dhoni(w), Ben Stokes, Rajat Bhatia, Deepak Chahar, Adam Zampa, Imran Tahir, Ashok Dinda

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma(c), Parthiv Patel(w), Ambati Rayudu, Kieron Pollard, Nitish Rana, Jos Buttler, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Mitchell McClenaghan, Tim Southee, Jasprit Bumrah

StatAttack

2 – In the two head-to-head clash, both teams have won one match each.

6 – Adam Zampa had the best bowling average in the previous edition of the IPL – 9.58. He also had the best bowling figures – 6/19.

191 – Mumbai Indians all-rounder Krunal Pandya batted with a strike rate of 191.12 in the previous edition of the IPL – the highest by any batsman in the tournament.

Get every cricket updates! Follow Us:

googletelegraminstagramwhatsappyoutubethreadstwitter

Download Our App

For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS and Google Play Store