IPL 2017 Finals, RPS vs MI, preview: Does Mahendra Singh Dhoni still have the big-match MOJO?

IPL 2017 Finals, RPS v MI :Karn Sharma would surely be the trump card for MI. Smith too has been in enviable form and he would like to lift the crown so dearly

By: Ankit Banerjee |
May 21, 2017 12:31 pm

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is going to be the part of his seventh Indian Premier League Finals, and for the first time as a player, strange isn’t it? All his life, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been known to have a certain ‘midas touch’ and his record as a captain proves just that, for team India and Chennai Super Kings. Today, he turns out to the field as a player and not a captain, what would his mindset be, does it even bother him? May be no! For that matter, they have defeated Mumbai Indians 3 times in this edition, which is not a stat you can brush under the carpet, that too in such an unpredictable format. That purely means that RPS know something about Mumbai Indians that no other team in the competition has a clue of.

Mumbai Indians will be wary of this stat and would be hoping their bowlers come to the party, likes of Lasith Malinga, who has not had the best of tournaments according to his standards, he would like to rectify that and Jasprit Bumrah, who has just grown with every match. The word is that MSD could bat at No.4, something everyone has been talking about, he is most lethal at that number one feels. Pandya brothers could play a big role along with the ever-so-dangerous Rohit Sharma. Karn Sharma would surely be the trump card for MI, whereas Washington Sundar could be the answer to Karn. Smith too has been in enviable form and he would like to lift the crown so dearly.

“We’re going to treat it like any other game!” The coach @MahelaJay cuts a calm figure ahead of the #IPLfinal #CricketMeriJaan #BELI3VE pic.twitter.com/JplSShM2JJ

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) May 21, 2017

Likely XI

Mumbai Indians 1 Parthiv Patel (wk), 2 Lendl Simmons, 3 Rohit Sharma (capt), 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Krunal Pandya, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Karn Sharma, 9 Mitchell Johnson/Mitchell McClenaghan, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

Rising Pune Supergiant 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Rahul Tripathi, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Manoj Tiwary, 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Dan Christian, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Lockie Ferguson, 10 Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Adam Zampa