IPL 10, Match 25, MI v DD Preview: Shaky Daredevils against formidable Mumbai Indians

The Mumbai Indians have been on a roll this season. The Rohit Sharma-led side has won five games in a row this season after having lost their tournament opener. Ever since their defeat at Pune, they have looked like the most settled side in the tournament. Moreover, it comes as an even stronger point that they have been unbeaten at their fortress home venue at Mumbai.

Coming in to the game against the Delhi Daredevils, they will walk in as the clear favorites for the match. Playing at their home venue will only boost their confidence a great deal and they will back themselves to register their 6th win on the trot against the shaky Delhi Daredevils. They have the momentum going in their favor and that should give them a lot of confidence going in to the game.

On the other hand, Delhi Daredevils have many problems to address. Much to the lines of the speculations made prior to the commencement of the tournament, the Delhi batting lineup has failed to deliver the goods at a consistent basis. They will hope that their batting gets back on track against the quality bowling lineup like the Mumbai Indians. Having said that, the MI bowling has been conceding a lot of runs too. DD can surely cash in their chances there.

Toss: Delhi Daredevils won the toss and opted to field

Rohit Sharma: Malinga is under the weather, he’s not feeling well. We have left him out. Mitchell Johnson comes in for him. We have been playing well for the last couple of weeks. We have not batted first, so it is a challenge for us. Not really. It looks the same track like the one in 2016. Seems a bit dry and there will be some bounce for the fast bowlers. You got to use it to your advantage and we have to put up a good show. We have played enough cricket here to understand what the surface does.

Zaheer Khan: We are going to bowl first. Mumbai being hometown for me, the heart is always with Mumbai. Will look to put up a nice show and hope everybody have a good time. Sleep on time, eat on time and exercise regularly. It’s a good challenge. We have three changes: Jayant is out. Angelo is out and Sam is also out. We have a full pace battery playing today. KG (Rabada) is debuting. Tare and Anderson are playing.

Focus will be on

Rohit Sharma

Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma walked into the tournament after having been out of action for a long period due to his injury. He came to the tournament being match fit but has largely looked rusty on his comeback. He did get some runs under his belt a couple of matches ago. He needs to back it up with another decent score to ensure that his rich vein of form is back to his spirits. If Rohit starts hitting the ball in the manner is renowned to do, things will only get better for the strong MI lineup.

Rishabh Pant

The young wicket keeper batsman has made a name for himself in such a short period of time. He has been hitting the ball so well that he has managed to be in the runs on most occasions this season. Pant walked in to the tournament riding on some big scores in the domestic circuit. In the tournament this season, he already has a fifty to his name against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. The youngster had a very good chance in the previous game against Sunrisers Hyderabad but threw it away with a reckless shot for a golden duck. He will have the eyes on him to perform more responsibly.

Sam Billings

The young English opener had got very good starts in the first couple of matches for his team. He has been the constant among the 4 overseas slots for the Delhi Daredevils this season. The youngster needs to justify his place in the team with more consistent showing. Billings hit a fifty in the tournament and has often got off to good starts. The key concern with him has been his lack of ability in making those good starts count. With the team seeing dwindling fortunes, Billings needs to step up and take responsibility at the top order.

Team Combination – Mumbai Indians

It has been the tradition for the Mumbai Indians. They rarely tinker with their winning combination. Even when some of their players are not firing in all cylinders, they tend to back them in a couple of matches. Things just align themselves perfectly in the subsequent games to follow. However, this season, they did not have to wait too long for the things to get aligned for them. They have managed to find a very settled eleven in their squad.

The openers Parthiv Patel and Jos Buttler have been in sublime form in the recent game. Nitish Rana has been a top contender for the Orange Cap and looks like the man for all occasions for Mumbai Indians this season. The likes of Kieron Pollard and Rohit Sharma have runs under their belt too. Pandya brothers have been contributing with both bat and the ball. They have made it a habit of playing the role of the finisher for the team. Bowling needs to be addressed but they have a bunch of match winners there as well.

Team Combination – Delhi Daredevils

Delhi Daredevils will be the team thinking a lot about their combinations in the game. They had played Jayant Yadav in their previous game considering the number of left-handers in the Sunrisers Hyderabad camp. However, this might change in the game against MI. Shahbaz Nadeem might be drafted in for the game and might well get a go in the powerplays too. Zaheer Khan and Pat Cummins look like the settled pacers in the lineup.

Chris Morris and Angelo Mathews will continue to be the all-rounders of the team. In the batting department, the inconsistency remains to be a concern. However, there is no shortage of talent. The likes of Sanju Samson, Karun Nair and Sam Billings have got runs to their names. Sanju Samson has been the most consistent batsman for them and a lot will depend on him this game.

Playing XI:

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

Delhi Daredevils: Aditya Tare, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant(w), Corey Anderson, Chris Morris, Pat Cummins, Amit Mishra, Kagiso Rabada, Zaheer Khan(c)

StatAttack

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

3923 – 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.

1 – Zaheer needs 1 more wicket to complete 100 IPL wickets.