Mumbai Indians will be raring to pick up things from where they left last year as the outfit clinched a thriller in the final by a slender margin of just one run. A convincing performance from the outfit saw them hammering their way to the top.
As they will be a part of the IPL opener for this year, they will need the right tactics to outsmart an experienced Chennai Super Kings, given the tricky conditions of UAE where Mumbai holds an embarrassing record of five straight defeats in 2014.
Things have changed, however, and we will look forward to string together the predicted XI of Mumbai Indians who will be taking the field against a soaring Chennai to continue their winning run in the tournament.
Mumbai Indians’ Openers:
Suryakumar Yadav and Quinton de Kock (wk)
After gaining promotion to the higher slots of batting, Yadav has found a new incarnation of himself, unleashing some thunderous knocks higher up the order. He has a wide range of shots up his sleeves that make him one of the finest batsmen in the Mumbai echelons. Quinton De Kock has been in red hot form in recent days. His exquisite batting has made a bubble of elegance around himself which also makes him a crowd favorite.
His leadership skills are indeed laudable and will be a massive boost to Rohit Sharma when the dup takes the field together, especially from behind the stumps.
Middle Order:
Rohit Sharma (c), Anmolpreet Singh, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya
Sharma is one of the most experienced campaigners in Indian cricket and also one of the most successful batsmen of the shortest version of the game. With 4898 runs from 188 games and with a wide array of shots up his sleeves, he will be spearheading Mumbai’s batting line up.
Anmolpreet Singh will be a big name for Mumbai Indians as he is an untested prodigy and will also hold the key to Mumbai’s middle-order stabilization that will also bolster the squad for Pollard and Pandya to go for the kill.
Kieron Pollard will be an imperative name in the ranks of Mumbai Indians batting line up given his hard-hitting that can help him to dictate proceedings right from the word go. If he manages to stay until the end, he can single-handedly destroy the opponents.
Hardik Pandya has recently been India’s heart-throb with the bat in the hand. Every single time he came out to bat, there was a sense of reliability on his shoulders. Though he failed to finish it until the end, his fireworks helped his team-mates to smack the most important runs in the end.
His brother Krunal is also an extremely hard-hitter of the ball and more importantly, he is a wondrous player of spin bowling. Known for those cross-sweeps which has seen him hammering those deliveries on the offside to the long-on boundaries is absolutely fascinating.
Bowlers:
Anukul Roy, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah, Nathan Coulter-Nile
Roy is still to feel the heat of the Indian Premier League as he is going to make his debut in the tournament. His all-round capability will make him a hot contender for the Indians line up. He is also an enigmatic spinner who will get a lot of assistance from the UAE pitches.
The New Zealand fast bowler will be an industrial name in the ranks of Mumbai Indians as he will storm in with the intention of rattling the timber every time. His pace of 135-145 kays still remains as decent as ever.
Bumrah would love to pick things up from where he left in the precursor edition of the tournament. HE garnered 19 wickets in the preceding edition of the tournament and will be once again Mumbai’s bowling spearhead for this season.
Mumbai Indians burnt their pockets to rope in the Australian fast bowler who is specialized in death bowling. Imagine the duo of Bumrah and Coulter-Nile running it at Chennai batsmen in the last four overs with the asking date close to 12 per over. It will be an exciting dance to savor.
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