Image Credit- BCCI
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Mumbai Indians entered this IPL as one of the formidable outfits that were expected to start a new era under the leadership of the prodigal son Hardik Pandya. Instead, they currently find themselves battered, bruised, and plagued by a wretched run of form that has taken them right at the foot of the table wondering what exactly has gone wrong for them.
And yet, despite all the doom and gloom, they are still not totally out of the woods with playoff qualification a possibility, no matter how distinct. So MI will have to believe that they still have a lot to play for in this tournament as they take on the Sunrisers Hyderabad in a crucial encounter for both sides at the Wankhede Stadium here in Mumbai.
While Mumbai will be looking to save face, the Sunrisers enter this game with grander aspirations, chief of which will be to keep their hopes of qualifying for the playoffs intact. With Sunrisers ending their league stage with 3 straight home games after this game, qualification looks to be entirely in their hands with a win here. However, they will very well know that one bad result and a promising campaign can go pear-shaped very quickly.
The last time these two sides met in Hyderabad, the IPL well and truly became a batsman’s game as Head, Abhishek Sharma, and Heinrich Klaasen took turns to obliterate the MI bowling to post 277, the then-highest total in IPL history. Mumbai, in turn gave as good as they got for a large chunk of their chase, but eventually fell 31 runs short.
Due to a back spasm, MI had to deploy their former captain, Rohit Sharma, as their Impact Player during their most recent match against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Both on Saturday and Sunday, Rohit batted in the nets without displaying any signs of pain, and during the press conference on Sunday, Naman Dhir declared that Rohit was “fit and fine.” If he is fit again, he ought to go back into the starting lineup.
In their most recent match, SRH made a big move by starting bowling all-rounder Marco Jansen instead of the struggling Aiden Markram. At the Wankhede, they’re probably going to stick with that overseas lineup, with Jaydev Unadkat, Umran Malik, or Mayank Markande being their final bowling choice, depending on the circumstances.