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Who would have thought that the likes of Bhuvi and Mustafizur were also capable of having an off day with the ball? The duo have been fantastic all through the tournament but when the law of averages applies to Virat Kohli, it can be applied to any and every one.
The Hyderbad track has proved to be an enigma all through the tournament. A rock hard, harmless looking surface, somehow always gets the batsmen into a tangle. Now, whether it has something to do with the ability f the batsmen or the hidden demons in the pitch is something that I have just not been able to decipher.
Warner started things off in his traditional ‘disdainful’ fashion but none of the other batsmen really backed him up and thus SRH could manage only 140 odd on a decent batting surface. But as has been the case, the SRH would have still backed their bowling to defend the meagre total.
However, the Delhi Daredevils had done their homework to perfection and did not fall to the trickery of either Bhuvi or Mustafizur. QDK, Rishab Pant and Karun Nair paced their innings to perfection and ended SRHs successful run in the IPL
Delhi Daredevils will draw a lot of confidence from this victory as they had lost their initial momentum in the last two games. SRH have more or less qualified for the playoffs but complacency could be the worst thing to have in your squad at this stage of the tournament.
Let’s get to business now!
Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI Punjab
Transfer out: Karun Nair, Deepak Hooda
Transfer in: Sandeep Sharma, KC Cariappa(uncapped)
Mumbai Indians have shone when people haven’t expected them to and have sometimes surrendered meekly when everyone expected them to fight till the end. But whatever said and done, qualification scenario is completely in their hands and they will be happy that almost everyone in their team has contributed to wins in this campaign. While the batting has been overly dependent on Rohit Sharam, Pollard and Buttler rose to the occasion in Bengaluru and finished off RCB with utter disdain.
Kings XI have had the same story for the last 2 seasons now. None of their star players have really clicked and there has been no game where all their units have played as one. A loss today could mean curtains for one more season and I am sure if they want to deflect journalists from asking them questions about ‘team brawls’, they will have to show some substance in their performance on the field.
The Vizag pitch has offered assistance to the bowlers in both the previous games and thus take that into consideration while locking your teams in.
Now, I already have Jasprit Bumrah, Krunal Pandya and Rohit Sharma in my team for this game.
Again, I‘ll be making just one change to my side.
Punjab play two games in the space of 4 matches and also considering the Vizag track, I bring in Sandeep Sharma. He has perfected the art of death bowling and has been the only shining light in another disappointing campaign for the Kings XI Punjab.
He has always been brilliant with the new ball, possessing the ability to swing it both ways, and thus I am sure that he will be giving me at least 125 points over the two games.
For those who have more than 23 transfer, you could consider getting Mitch McCleneghan in for Mustafizur Rehman, but do that only if Mumbai bowl first as that would provide him with a better platform to pick wickets.
The Kings XI batting order is not at all dependable and especially when they’ll be against a brilliant seam bowling attack in Southee-Bumrah-McCleneghan.
Buttler and Pollard have been pushed way too low down the order to give me that certainty of at least 50 points and hence I wouldn’t want to take a chance with them.
But if you want to pick one of them, I’ll suggest Buttler. He is more technically adept and thus is more bankable. But get him in only if Mumbai bat first as MI have this habit of keeping their big hitters in the shed for longer than expected when chasing a tricky total.
For the uncapped player, I get in KC Cariappa. Apart from Krunal Pandya, he is the only other uncapped player who will have a fair say in today’s game. Rana could be pushed down the order and hence won’t be able to make an impact. Cariappa was brilliant in the game against RCB, where he picked up Kohli.
Batting captain: Rohit Sharma
Bowling captain: Jasprit Bumrah(if MI bowl first)/ Sandeep Sharma(if KXIP bowl first)
