In the 30th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 which will be marking the resumption of the season, will see the two-time defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) will be locking horns with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday. The first phase of the IPL in India had to be paused due to the sudden spread of the Covid-19 virus. BCCI decided to host the remaining part of the tournament in the UAE.
Chennai Super Kings won 5 of their 7 games, and are standing second on the points table whereas MI has won 4 of their 7 matches, and is standing at the 4th spot on the table. The two teams went loggerheads against each other in the third last game (27th match) at Delhi before the tournament came to a halt. In that game, Mumbai defeated CSK by 4 wickets in a nail-biting finish.
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The two best teams of the IPL have locked horns with each other 31 times in head-to-head games so far in the history of this tournament, in which MI won 19 matches while the CSK managed 12 wins. With both the teams in pretty healthy form, another thrilling contest is on the cards for the first day of the rescheduled IPL in Abu Dhabi. Chennai Super Kings will be missing the services of two of their most important players in this game, Faf du Plessis and Sam Curran.
Mumbai Indians (MI)
Mumbai Indians are the only side in IPL that boasts six fast bowlers in the Playing XI. Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Dhawal Kulkarni, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya are regulars. Then there are James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Milne, and Marco Jansen who will be rotating as the new ball bowler for the defending champions.
Probable XI: Quinton de Kock (WK), Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult
Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
CSK has concerns to address ahead of their opener against MI as a couple of their stars – Faf du Plessis and Sam Curran – may miss out. They do not need to look far as they have a natural opener in Robin Uthappa in their mix. The ex-KKR star could easily slot in at the top. With the opening problem resolved, it is likely that CSK will keep backing Moeen Ali at No 3 while Suresh Raina will be expected to bat at the no 4 spot. Ali and Ravindra Jadeja could chip in as the tweakers if needed along with Raina.
Probable XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Robin Uthappa, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi, J Hazlewood
Fantasy Suggestion #1:
Quinton de Kock (c), Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja (vc), Hardik Pandya, Imran Tahir, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, and Shardul Thakur
Fantasy Suggestion #2:
Quinton de Kock (vc), Ishan Kishan, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Imran Tahir, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, and Deepak Chahar
