IPL 10, Qualifier 1, MI v RPS – Mumbai Indians Predicted XI

By winning 8 games out of their first ten matches, Mumbai Indians became the first team to qualify for the playoffs two weeks before the knockout stages. The 2-time champions have been very professional in their approach this year and have lost just 4 games so far. They will now lock horns with Rising Pune Supergiant in this year’s first qualifier which is scheduled to be played on Tuesday. Mumbai has the home advantage as the game is scheduled to be played at the Wankhede Stadium. That Mumbai ended up topping the table and slotted to play this encounter is a matter of chance and perhaps, destiny. They will be wary of RPS, who have had a great run in the latter stages of the tournament. Smith-led RPS, though, will be without key players Ben Stokes and Imran Tahir as both have departed for national duty. The Indian contingent has to step up in the absence of their international stars. Facing Mumbai in Mumbai is a daunting task which means that RPS will have to bring their A-game at the Wankhede. Mumbai Indians fielded a second XI in their inconsequential last league game against KKR. That MI ended up winning the game is a testimony to the bench strength Mumbai possesses. They now face key selection headaches, which is always a great sign. Mumbai Indians are expected to go ahead with the tried and tested combination which brought them success during the course of the season. Here is the Predicted XI for Mumbai Indians for the first qualifier: Openers (Lendl Simmons and Parthiv Patel) Patel was rested for the last league game as the think-tank wanted to give Saurabh Tiwary a run. Tiwary did well but is expected to miss this game because in Patel Mumbai Indians trust. Also, Rayudu expressed his discomfort at keeping wicket in the last game. Mumbai Indians will not have a make shift arrangement behind the stumps in a crucial game anyway. Patel has provided brisk starts to Mumbai this year and has been neat behind the stumps. With Buttler flying out to England, Simmons is set to open the innings with Parthiv. The West Indian already has hit 2 fifties in four games so far this season. He has been successful for Mumbai Indians at the top of the order and will have to take the responsibility alongside Parthiv to get Mumbai off to a good start. Middle Order (Ambati Rayudu, Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard) Rayudu has won 111 caps for Mumbai Indians ever since he got associated with the franchise in 2010. He has been a mainstay of the MI batting order over the last 7 years. An injury in MI’s first game made Rayudu miss 12 games in a row and provided Nitish Rana with a chance. But with runs drying up from Rana’s bat, Rayudu got back into the XI and immediately made a neat 63 which eventually won the game for Mumbai. He will again walk out at the No. 3 position in this game. Rohit has had a mixed tournament so far. The stage is now set for the ‘Hitman’ to make a big statement and lead his side into the finals. He will bat at No. 4 again and will have to play till the end to make sure Mumbai’s innings finishes off in style. Apart from his batting, his leadership will also be tested in this high-pressure game. Pollard’s season has been at par with his standards. An average of 32.90 coupled with a strike rate of 141.40 means that Pollard has hit the ball well this year. He almost took Mumbai home in a high-scoring encounter against Kings XI Punjab last week. That innings displayed the big man’s ability to change the course of a game within a matter of a couple of overs. All-rounders (Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya) Hardik Pandya has done a reasonable job with bat and ball this year. He has shown his versatility as he was pushed up and down the batting order. With an average of 45 this year, Pandya has shown that he is not just a slogger. His death bowling has been remarkable as Rohit has entrusted in him during critical moments to which the allrounder has responded well. The other Pandya brother was skipper Rohit’s go-to bowler when he wanted to slow things down. He picked wickets whenever the ball was tossed at him and was also up to finish games for the team with the bat. Krunal picked up an injury which kept him out of action but he was back in action in the last league game and that will give MI a lot of confidence. Bowlers (Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell McClenaghan, Lasith Malinga and Jasprit Bumrah) After a rare pounding by Glenn Maxwell last week, Harbhajan was rested ahead of the playoffs for the final league game. India’s most successful off-spinner has been very wily this year as he has gone about his business very clinically. He has bowled at the right pace and hit the right areas to pick 8 wickets from 11 games at an economy rate of 6.48. He will walk back into the side and is a crucial cog in the wheels of Mumbai Indians. 13 games this year have fetched 18 wickets for McClenaghan. Yes, the Kiwi fast bowler goes for runs, but he will always give you wickets which are significant in T20 cricket. The left-arm pacer is an expert of mixing it up at the death. Malinga has just made 9 appearances so far this year. He has on occasions looked a pale shadow of his former self but has also come up with reasonable performances. With his skill and experience, Mumbai are likely to go with him in this game being the most successful bowler in the history of the IPL. Bumrah has been very skilful bowling in the middle overs this year. His skiddy nature does not allow batsmen to hit him for runs. He is a great exponent of the wide yorker, which is very tough to put away. The 23-year-old has been the best seam bowler on display for the Mumbai Indians this year. He will lead the attack in this all important game against RPS. RPS has won both home and away games against Mumbai Indians this year. They hold a psychological advantage going into this game but remember that they will have to play with a depleted side which equals out the advantage they had. Mumbai Indians thus start as favourites for this encounter.

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IPL 10, Qualifier 1, MI v RPS – Mumbai Indians Predicted XI

Mumbai Indians have the home advantage in their favour but have lost both their league games against RPS earlier this season.

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