IPL 2021: CricTracker Expert Manvinder Bisla predicts CSK to win against MI

The 14th edition of the Indian Premier League resumed on September 19, with fierce rivals Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings taking on each other at the Dubai International Stadium. 

The 14th league edition was postponed in a unanimous decision taken by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the IPL Governing Council on May 4, after a spate of Covid-19 cases emerged inside the bio-bubbles of four different teams across two cities. After plenty of deliberations the league resumes in UAE, where the 31 unfinished games will be played across three venues.

After winning the toss, Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni opted to bat. “Looks like a good surface. Better to put runs on the board. Once the tournament starts, you get into some sort of rhythm but this season it’s new, and maybe we cricketers will start loving it: seven games, a break, and then seven more. It comes down to how you play on that day in the shortest form, so we’ll try to keep the basics right,” Dhoni said.

Mumbai’s regular skipper Rohit Sharma had to sit out the opening encounter on account of an injury. Filling in for him, stand-in skipper Kieron Pollard said: “We weren’t too sure about the toss, but the good thing is we can’t be criticised for something we cannot do. Rohit is okay, we will see him sooner rather than later. He’s the captain of this ship, I’m just standing in. We were just starting to get our momentum before the break. This is the most important part of the stage. No Hardik along with Rohit. Anmolpreet makes his debut.”

Manvinder Bisla predicts CSK to win

The former KKR batter and CricTracker expert Manvinder Bisla reckoned Chennai appears to be the more settled unit. “I will opt Chennai [as the winners]. A major reason behind that is Rohit Sharma’s absence. And even otherwise, the whole unit of CSK looks better balanced than MI.”

 

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Playing XIs

Chennai Super Kings: Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, MS Dhoni, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood

Mumbai Indians: Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Anmolpreet Singh, Saurabh Tiwary, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Adam Milne, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult