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Mumbai need something special vs resolute Rajasthan

April 29, 2023 13:15 IST

Mumbai Indians are eighth with 6 points in the 10-team table.

Rajasthan Royals are on top with 10 points.

Mumbai Indians will be counting on their bowlers to deliver, particularly at the death, when they take on Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.

IMAGE: Mumbai Indians will be counting on their bowlers to deliver, particularly at the death, when they take on Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Sunday. Photograph: BCCI

Misfiring Mumbai Indians will need to bring their 'A-game' to the show to stop the Rajasthan Royals juggernaut when they meet in the Indian Premier League match in Mumbai on Sunday.

The Royals are currently atop the table after some incredible performances, which includes the one-sided routing of Chennai Super Kings.

 

Despite losing two of their last three matches, the Sanju Samson-led side is in prime form and delivering in all departments.

On the other hand, there are serious concerns for MI, especially their death bowling, which was responsible for their last two defeats in high-scoring games.

Mumbai’s bowlers gave away a whopping 96 runs off the last 30 balls and allowed Punjab Kings to run away with the match at the Wankhede Stadium last weekend.

If that was not enough, they conceded 70 runs off the last 24 balls against defending champions Gujarat Titans.

They need more from their top-order, though the task on Sunday night will be to put up a unified front, given that RR's batting has been consistent enough.

In particular, Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav will have to fire for MI to resurrect their campaign.

They are languishing at the bottom and placed eighth in the points table after the first half of the tournament.

In the bowling department, it remains to be seen if Jofra Archer shows up for the contest against his former side Rajasthan.

The English pacer, far from being 100 per cent fit, has spent more time recovering from his elbow troubles this season and illness, due to which he missed the contest against Gujarat Titans.

The likes of Jason Behrendorff, Riley Meredith and Arjun Tendulkar have been expensive.

On the other hand, RR will look to make the most of the frailties of MI. They have the firepower in their batting line-up to pile up a total around 200 at the batting-friendly Wankhede.

They have an assured pairing of Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top, and in the middle they have the likes of Sanju Samson, Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer followed by Dhruv Jurel.

The right-handed uncapped Jurel has been a find of the season for the Royals, as he has consistently scored quick runs.

RR's biggest strength in the bowling unit is undoubtedly the spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin, who have so far taken collective 23 wickets in eight matches.

Left-arm fast bowler Trent Boult has looked impressive at the start of the innings and with nine wickets in six games, the Kiwi has turned out to be RR's one of the best weapons.

Teams (from):

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (captain), Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Dewald Brevis, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Tristan Stubbs, Vishnu Vinod, Cameron Green, Arjun Tendulkar, Ramandeep Singh, Shams Mulani, Riley Meredith Nehal Wadhera, Hrithik Shokeen, Arshad Khan, Duan Jansen, Piyush Chawla, Kumar Kartikeya, Raghav Goyal, Jofra Archer, Jason Behrendorff, Akash Madhwal.

Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (captain and wicketkeeper), Dhruv Jorel, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, R Ashwin, Jason Holder, Trent Boult, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, M Ashwin, K M Asif, K C Cariappa, Donovan Ferreira, Devdutt Padikkal, Obey McCoy, Joe Root, Kuldeep Sen, Akash Vashist, Kuldip Yadav, Adam Zampa, Abdul Basith.

Match starts: 7:30 PM IST.

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