Guwahati: After the defeat against Delhi Capitals, the third match of five-time champions Mumbai Indians is with Rajasthan Royals. This match between Mumbai and Rajasthan will be played in Guwahati. In such a situation, Mumbai will try to get back on the winning track, but it will not be easy at all for it. Because Rajasthan has made a good start in the tournament with two back to back wins. However, the good news for Mumbai is that captain Hardik Pandya is fully fit and ready to return.
Due to ill health, Hardik could not play in the last match against Delhi Capitals in which his team had to face defeat by six wickets. In Hardik’s absence, India’s T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav led the way but the team missed Hardik’s all-round game. Due to Hardik’s absence, the team composition also had to be reshuffled. Deepak Chahar, who was included in the team in his place, bowled well, but the decision to bring Corbin Bosch in place of experienced fast bowler Trent Boult backfired as the South African bowler gave away a lot of runs.
Hardik Pandya has started practicing
After this, Hardik has started practicing, due to which the chances of his comeback have become stronger. Shardul Thakur, who performed brilliantly in bowling in the first match, proved to be expensive in the last match, while Jasprit Bumrah, who is always reliable, has been economical but has not been able to take wickets so far this season. In the spin department, Mitchell Santner justified his selection in the team in place of Afghanistan’s mystery spinner Allah Ghazanfar and it is likely that he will retain his place.
Rajasthan’s top order will prove to be Mumbai’s challenge
However, Mumbai Indians bowlers will have to give their best performance against Rajasthan’s top order. Rajasthan’s top order batsmen have performed well so far. The Rajasthan team has adopted an aggressive attitude so far and Mumbai will need to remain alert. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and young sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi have given an explosive start to the team, after which Dhruv Jurel has maintained the momentum.
Captain Riyan Parag has not made any significant contribution with the bat yet, but he will get confidence from his leadership skills. He has impressed with his captaincy so far, especially his strategic decisions in the death overs which led the Royals to a thrilling win over Gujarat Titans. Among the bowlers, the performance of Tushar Deshpande and Ravi Bishnoi has been impressive. Bishnoi has taken five wickets in two matches. Whereas Deshpande had presented a good example of his death overs skills by successfully defending 10 runs in the last over against Titans.
The teams are as follows:
Rajasthan Royals: Ryan Parag (captain), Dhruv Jurel, Donovan Ferreira, Luan-Dre Pretorius, Ravi Singh, Aman Perala, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja, Adam Milne, Brijesh Sharma, Joffra Archer, Kuldeep Sen, Quena Mafaka, Nandre Berger, Ravi Bishnoi and Sandeep Sharma.
Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (captain), Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Danish Malewar, Robin Minz (wicketkeeper), Ryan Rickelton (wicketkeeper), Sherfane Rutherford, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Atharva Ankolekar, Raj Bawa, Corbin Bosch, Will Jacques, Mayank Rawat, Naman Dheer, Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Tilak. Verma, Ashwini Kumar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Deepak Chahar, AM Ghazanfar, Mayank Markandey, Mohammad Izhar, Raghu Sharma.
The match will start at 7:30 pm.
