New Delhi: Defending champions Mumbai Indians will try to sort out their middle order and get their campaign back on track when they take on a rival Rajasthan Royals in an IPL match on Thursday.
MI comes into the game after suffering rugby losses. The last one was a nine-wicket defeat against Punjab Kings in Chennai and had to restart the Delhi leg.
Rajasthan, led by Sanju Samson, have lost three times in the tournament so far and will try to build on the six-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in the previous match.
Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma (201 runs) has started but has yet to get a big hit, and the Mumbaikar would love to get one, like his starting partner Quinton De Kock (47 runs).
But Mumbai’s middle order, which boasts hard-hitting batsmen such as Suryakumar Yadav (154 runs), Ishan Kishan (73 runs), Hardik Pandya (36 runs), Krunal Pandya (29 runs) and Kieron Pollard (65 runs), has not shot in harmony.
The middle order could suppress a good attack on any given day, and Sharma hopes their batting will click on Thursday as the action moves to the Feroz Shah Kotla site here.
In the bowling division, the tempo duo of Trent Boult (6 wickets) and Jasprit Bumrah (4 wickets) were exceptional, especially with death.
The spinner Rahul Chahar (9 wickets) and Krunal (3 wickets) were also impressive and will again have to play their role perfectly.
Pollard is used as the fifth or sixth bowler, even though Hardik only plays as a batsman.
However, Mumbai may replace Adam Milne in place of Jayant Yadav.
Rajasthan, on the other hand, has a lot to think about, especially in the absence of key foreign players – Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes, Liam Livingstone and Andrew Tye.
RR does not yet have a fixed opening combination. They tried Manan Vohra (42 runs) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (22 runs) at the top, but both could not convert their start.
Englishman Jos Buttler will have to score well to compliment his skipper Sanju Samson, who is the team’s leading run-scorer (187), despite being inconsistent.
And like Shivam Dube, David Miller and Riyan Parag, they will have to support the top order by making the much-needed contributions.
The versatile Chris Morris (9 wickets and 48 runs) blew hot and cold and will be under pressure again to deliver his high prize.
Left-back Chetan Sakariya (7 wickets) was a revelation, while experienced duo Jaydev Unadkat (4 wickets) and Mustafizur Rahman (4 wickets) were proper. However, the three left-wingers and Morris need to be consistent.
Spinner Rahul Tewatia has conceded just one wicket from five games, while Shreyas Gopal, another leg, has been without a wicket in the two games he has played.
Tewatia’s role would be crucial if the Royals wanted to limit the MI batting line-up, with Amit Mishra’s performance for Delhi in mind.
The dew will play no role on Thursday as it is an afternoon match.
Source: Telangana Today