Squads –
MI –
Rohit Sharma(c), Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Dhawal Kulkarni, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Quinton de Kock, Rahul Chahar, Suryakumar Yadav, Chris Lynn, Mohsin Khan, Saurabh Tiwary, Trent Boult, Adam Milne, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, James Neeshan, Yudhvir Charak, Marco Jansen, Arjun Tendulkar
CSK –
Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(C & WK), Narayan Jagadeesabn, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KM Asif, Karn Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, Faf du Plessis, Shardul Thakur, Mitchell Santner, Dwayne Bravo, Lungi Ngidi, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Imran Tahir, Robin Uthappa, Moeen Ali, K Gowtham, Cheteshwar Pujara, M.Harisankar Reddy, K.Bhagath Varma, C Hari Nishaanth, R Sai Kishore, Jason Behrendorff
Team News –
MI –
– IPL is resuming after a Covid outbreak in the first half and it will resume by 2 heavyweights of the league CSK and Mumbai Indians against each other.
– Mumbai Indians won their last game against CSK which was one of the best matches of the IPL ever where MI chased down massive 219 runs with Pollard being Not out on 87 of 34 balls.
– Quinton de Kock, Kieron Pollard, Trent Boult and Adam Milne/Nathan Coulter Nile will be team’s foreign players.
– Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock will open the game. De Kock has been in excellent form recently scoring back to back 50s against Sri Lanka in t20 series. Rohit his partner needs no intro and will be looking to score big.
– Surya Kumar Yadav will bat at 1 down. Surya has been excellent form last 2-3 years scoring consistently 400+ in every season. He is scoring runs in 20s-30s but unable to convert it into a big score. Krunal will bat at 2 down, he scored 32 of 21 balls in last game against CSK
– Hardik Pandya will bat next followed by Big Kieron Pollard. Hardik has not contributing with the bowl and also is having a shaky form in batting. Pollard played one of the best knocks by him so far last game against CSK.
– Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya will lead the spin attack. Chahar has been excellent in this tournament being the highest Wicket taker for the team. Jayant Yadav can assist them if plays.
– Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Nathan Coulter Nile/Adam Milne and Dhawal Kulkarni/Arjun Tendulkar will lead the pace bowling. Pollard will assist them.
CSK –
– Chennai Super Kings the giants of IPL lost just 2 of their 7 games played in 1st phase. They lost against MI which was also their last game.
– CSK will be without Sam Curran in the 1st game due to quarantine rules, Faf du Plessis is also very much doubtful for the opener game.
– Expected four foreign players will be Moeen Ali, Faf du Plessis/Josh Hazlewood, Lungi Ngidi and Josh Hazlewood/Imran Tahir
– Ruturaj Gaikwad and Robin Uthappa will open for CSK. Gaikwad will be without his partner faf for 1st time this season. Rutu has been in excellent touch and can play big innings. Uthappa needs no introduction and is amongst the top scorers in IPL history.
– Moeen Ali will bat at 1 down. Moeen has been excellent from the very 1st game scoring runs with a SR of 150+ and also has been very effective with the ball. He scored a 50 in last game they played against MI.
– Suresh Raina will bat at 2 down. Raina has been excellent since his return scoring runs at a good pace. He has scored 126 runs in 7 games so far.
– Ambati Rayudu will bat next at 3 down followed by MS Dhoni. Jadeja was promoted in both last few games and played some good knocks.
– CSK bat’s quite deep even Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar can hit the ball big.
– Ravindra Jadeja, Imran Tahir and Moeen Ali will be the spin options with the team. Suresh Raina can bowl a over of 2 if needed.
– Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar and Lungi Ngidi/Josh Hazlewood will be the pace attack of CSK.
Probable XI –
MI –
Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock, Surya Kumar Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar, Dhawal Kulkarni/Nathan Coulter Nile/Jayant Yadav
CSK –
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf Du Plessis/Robin Uthappa, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (C & WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Lungi Ngidi/Josh Hazlewood, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar.
Pitch Report –
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Pitch here at Abu Dhabi offer good assistance to pacers and good scores are expected early on the tournament.
Team Blueprint –
WK –
QdK( Open + wk, LHB, 70*, 38 last 2 games this IPL, 154/3 runs in 3 games against SL last series)
MS Dhoni( 3/4 down, RHB + wk, no intro needed, one of the best finisher ever, very experienced and has a excellent Average of 34 against MI)
Ishan Kishan ( 2 down + wk, LHB, 56(32b) against Eng last series, highest scorer for MI with 516 runs last season, was dropped last 2 games, Must if plays)
BAT –
Rohit Sharma ( Open, RHB, no intro needed, 752 runs with an average of 29 against CSK, Must have any day )
Surya Kumar Yadav ( 1 down, RHB, Red hot form, 480 runs in IPL2020 at a SR of 140, 278 runs in 10 games against CSK, out on duck last game against same opponent, Must have)
Chris Lynn ( Open, RHB, didn’t played a game last season, 458 runs this BBL at a SR of 145+, was brilliant with 49 runs in 1st game, will most likely not play)
Suresh Raina( 2 down, LHB, top 3 highest run getter in IPL history, 800+ runs against MI in 33 games, Must have)
Faf Du Plessis( Open, RHB, excellent season last year with 449 runs 13 games, red hot form, 95*, 50, 56, 50 last 4 games, high chances of missing the game, Must if plays )
Ambati Rayudu( 3 down, RHB, was 2nd highest scorer of team last season with 359 runs, 72*(27b) last game against MI, experienced player, Must try in GL)
Robin Uthappa( Open, RHB, very experienced, red hot form with 377 runs in Vijay Hazare recently, 90+ runs in practice game, can be a good pick if opens)
Ruturaj Gaikwad( Open, RHB, very talented youngster, 4 games 214 runs last season with 2 50s, 196 runs in 7 games this season)
Kieran Pollard ( Middle order, RHB + part time medium pace, 10000+ t20 runs, SR of 190 last season, must GL pick , 87(34b)* + 2 Wickets last game against CSK, Must have)
ALL –
Hardik Pandya ( Middle order, RHB + Medium pacer, SR of 159 with 1300+ runs for MI in last 5 years, didn’t bowled still now , Must try)
Jimmy Neesham( Right Arm medium + LHB, very attacking hitter, 45(33b) + 2w, 26(22b) in last T20 series he played, 2O 26R with bowl and duck with bat last game against CSK )
Ravi Jadeja( Slow left arm + LHB, Excellent form, 3 Wickets + 64 runs last 2nd game against RCB, 271 runs + 16 Wickets against MI, Must have)
Moeen Ali( Off spin + LHB, 1 down, SR of 140 in t20s 36, 46/1w, 26/3w, 25, 15(8b), 58/1w in last 6 games this IPL, coming after a good Hundred league, Must have)
K Gowtham( Off spin + RHB, good hitter of the ball, SR of 164 in T20s with 568 runs and 41 Wickets, can be crusial pick if plays)
M Santner( slow left arm, among top 10 t20 bowler’s, less chances of playing)
Krunal Pandya ( 2 down, Slow left arm + LHB, 58* against Eng in 1st ODI recently, 32(21b) last game played against CSK, didn’t bowled)
BOWL –
J Bumrah( Right Arm fast, 27 Wickets at a SR of 13 last IPL, can’t miss him, best death bowler around, 9 Wickets in 11 games against CSK)
Trent Boult ( Left arm fast, known for his deadly swing early on the innings, 3rd highest wicket taker last season with 25 Wickets, 6 wickets in 4 games against CSK, Must have)
Rahul Chahar( Leggie, brilliant last 2 seasons for MI with 15+ Wickets, 11w in 7 games this season so far)
DJ Bravo( Right Arm medium, one of the best death bowlers, 28 Wickets against MI which is most by him, less chances of playing )
Imran Tahir( Leg spin, veteran very experienced with 400+ t20 Wickets, can be an excellent choice to have in UAE)
Shardul Thakur( Right Arm medium fast, hit the deck bowler, 8 Wickets in recently concluded t20 series against Eng, very good form in test matches )
Deepak Chahar ( Right Arm medium fast, known for his swing, 8 Wickets in 6 games, 2 4 Wicket hauls this IPL , Must have)
Nathan Coulter Nile ( Right Arm medium fast, can bowl upto 140ks, quite experienced with 156 t20 Wickets, 11 Wickets in 6 BBL2020 games, very good option to have)
Adam Milne ( Right Arm fast, experienced, bowls an average pace of 145, 124 t20 Wickets, poor BBL recently with just 4 Wickets in 12 games, can get a game )
Piyush Chawla ( Leggie, 3rd highest wicket taker in IPL history with 156 scalps, poor season with CSK last year)
M Jansen( Left arm medium fast + good Striker of ball, excellent debut picking 2 Wickets for just 28 in 1st game, was dropped after 1st 2 games)
C/VC –
MI –
Rohit Sharma
Surya Kumar Yadav
Quinton de Kock
Jasprit Bumrah
CSK –
Moeen Ali
Suresh Raina
Ravindra Jadeja
