IPL 2018: Match 7, SRH vs MI - Mumbai Indians Predicted XI

The defending champions Mumbai Indians lost the opening game of the season against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) from nowhere courtesy heroics from Dwayne Bravo. They were bossing the game throughout and were about twin the first game of the season after six years but complacency hurt them badly. Though all is not lost for them after losing only the first game and they would be looking to come back strongly against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). However, it will be tough ask for them as it is an away game for the Men in Blue.

Their opponents are riding high though as they literally thumped Rajasthan Royals by 9 wickets in front of their home crowd. It was the perfect start for them and would be eyeing to continue in the same vein now as well. Mumbai will have to play their best cricket in order to trump the Sunrisers as they possess one of the best bowling attacks in the tournament.

Here we bring you the predicted XI of Mumbai Indians for their next game:

Openers (Evin Lewis, Rohit Sharma (c))

Evin Lewis and Rohit Sharma will continue to open the innings for Mumbai Indians in this match as well. Lewis will be looking to get off the mark in the tournament after bagging a duck on his IPL debut. Its crucial for the fortunes of the team that the Caribbean cricketer gets going as the batsmen following him can follow the suit. His approach would be interesting to see in this game.

Rohit Sharma, the skipper, needs to lead from the front after missing out at the Wankhede. No one can stop him once he gets going but the star player needs some time to get his eye in. As it is an away game for them, Rohit will have to anchor the innings until the end and make sure his side stays in the game. Though his perfect knock can blow away any opposition on any given day.

Middle-Order (Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav)

Ishan Kishan could be the surprise package of Mumbai in this season. He is in great form and showed the glimpse of it with a trailblazing knock of 40 runs against CSK. The youngster is capable of scoring big and it will be no surprise if he takes the attack to the opposition to stun the jam-packed home crowd. His wicket-keeping is also top notch and expect some brilliance from him behind the wickets.

Suryakumar Yadav is the veteran in domestic cricket and he once again used all his experience against CSK after the openers got out early. His 43-run knock laid the platform for the next batsmen to come in and tonk the ball. His role in the team will be to shift gears according to the situation of the match. He will be aiming to go one step better in this game and play a match-winning knock for MI.

All-Rounders (Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard)

This trio plays a huge part in the success of Mumbai Indians side more often than not. Hardik Pandya got injured while running in the last game but should be fit for the game after getting sufficient rest. Despite not being 100 percent fit, Pandya bowled admirably well picking 3 wickets for just 24 runs and also played a decent knock with the bat. A similar or even better effort from him is expected during the course of the tournament let alone this game.

Krunal Pandya batted superbly after coming into bat with less than 5 overs to go against CSK. He ripped apart the death bowling of the opposition and played some delightful strokes in the process eventually remaining unbeaten on 41 off just 22 balls. He would love to do the same again in this game and should bowl as well as he wasn’t used surprisingly by his skipper while defending the total.

Kieron Pollard wasn’t required with both bat and ball in the first game.It rarely happens that the Caribbean player is not contributed at all to the team’s cause. He will surely make the difference in case he gets the opportunity in either of the departments. You never know with Pollard as he can hit form at any point and can just annihilate the bowlers on his day.

Bowlers (Mayank Markande, Mustafizur Rahman, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah)

Mayank Markande, the young leggie, surprised one and all with his sensational bowling spell on the opening night of the tournament. He picked 3 wickets in his 4-over spell out of which MS Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu who have the capability to take the game away from the opponents. Mayank is set to continue playing in the blue jersey and yet another similar show should be enough for his team to win this time around.

Mustafizur Rahman and Mitchell McClenaghan looked off-colour in the previous match and were extremely poor at the death. A stark improvement is needed from them else the defending champions will struggle this season. They won’t be dropped only after one bad game and the duo would be itching to prove their worth to the team. Moreover, Mustafizur is known to the conditions in Hyderabad having played for the same franchise previously and is likely to be more effective.

Jasprit Bumrah endured a completely off day to start off the season last week. He is far better bowler than what his figures of 1/37 suggest and he was taken apart by Bravo’s brilliance. Even he will be confident of doing well in this game and it is good for Mumbai that their best pacer experienced a bad day early in the season.

Here’s the MI Predicted XI for the game against SRH

Keep following CricTracker for more news and updates