If it was a great start to the Indian Premier League season 10 was great, thanks to Yuvraj Singh who set the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium alive with his 27-ball 62. Today, it is time for the Maharashtra derby, but what is actually making headlines in Mahendra Singh Dhoni after being a captain in 143 IPL matches will not feature as a captain. Steven Smith instead will be leading the Rising Pune Supergiant outfit. Understandably so, after a disastrous IPL debut last year finishing second last in the points table. They will be locking horns with Mumbai Indians, who won the 2015 edition. But last year was disastrous for them as well, as for the very first time they did not make it to the play-offs. Ajinkya Rahane is another big player in this team giving it the right balance.
Rising Pune Supergiant: Well, they put in everything at the auction to get Ben Stokes onboard for a whopping Rs. 14.5 cr. Mahendra Singh Dhoni did not fire last year and that pegged them back. They also have an issue with death bowling as Ben Stokes is the guy they have to go to and he does not have the variations like a Tymal Mills or a Lasith Malinga. Thier strength lies in the batting department. They have an in-form Steven Smith, Ben Stokes and Mahendra Singh Dhoni will have to fire as they will look upto to him to finish games. Ravichandran Ashwin’s absence is bound to hurt them.
“I cannot wait to get on to the field and experience the moment!”
Join @ImRo45 on #CaptainsCorner exclusively on MITV #CricketMeriJaan pic.twitter.com/xiQM3p06Py— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 6, 2017
Mumbai Indians: In Lasith Malinga, Mitchell Johnson, Jasprit Bumrah, Tim Southee, they surely have the best pace outfit. But they look a little thin in the batting department. Rohit Sharma is their big guy and he has to come good if they want to pose a mammoth total or chase down a decent target. Kieron Pollard will bring to the table his all round abilities especially with the bat. Also Hardik Pandya will be a player to watch out for apart from Ambati Rayadu and Parthiv Patel.
Our captain, @ImRo45 has led from the front! Follow his footsteps, #ReadAStory to a child & upload it here: https://t.co/EF3XIYRsjg pic.twitter.com/ODEr2JVDTi
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 6, 2017
Rising Pune Supergiant Squad: SPD Smith*, MA Agarwal, Ankit Sharma, B Aparajith, AK Bains, R Bhatia, DL Chahar, RD Chahar, DT Christian, MS Dhoni, AB Dinda, F du Plessis, LH Ferguson, Jaskaran Singh, UT Khawaja, MR Marsh, AM Rahane, Saurabh Kumar, BA Stokes, M Tandon, MK Tiwary, JD Unadkat, A Zampa
Mumbai Indians Squad: RG Sharma*, JJ Bumrah, JC Buttler, S Gopal, K Gowtham, DAS Gunaratne, Harbhajan Singh, MG Johnson, K Khejroliya, SD Lad, MJ McClenaghan, SL Malinga, HH Pandya, KH Pandya, PA Patel, KA Pollard, N Pooran, DS Punia, N Rana, AT Rayudu, JM Sharma, KV Sharma, LMP Simmons, TG Southee, J Suchith, SS Tiwary, R Vinay Kumar
The match starts at 8:00 IST.
Maha Derby it is, to kick-start our #IPL campaign! Here’s all you need to know about #RPSvMI: https://t.co/u4n4LFLF2j#CricketMeriJaan pic.twitter.com/BcgzWE557d
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 6, 2017
You can watch the match on Sony Six and Set Max and live stream it on Hotstar.
