It will be an El Clasico of the Indian Premier League (IPL) when Mumbai Indians (MI) will be locking horns with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 33rd match of the 15th edition of the tournament at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai. MI is the only team in the tournament so far to not win a match so far this season.
In their last game against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), MI suffered a loss by 18 runs after failing to chase a target of 200 runs. CSK, on the other hand, won their first match of the season against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) owing to a dominating batting performance. However, their bowlers again failed to defend the total against Gujarat Titans in the previous match. GT managed to chase down the target of 170 runs in 19.5 overs and won the match by 3 wickets.
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Both MI and CSK would be hoping for a better performance from their bowling unit in this match. They have locked horns with each other in 34 IPL matches so far and Mumbai is having a 20 to 12 lead over Chennai. Even in their last 5 encounters, MI is having a 3-2 lead over CSK. On that note, we take a look at the player battles to watch out for today.
#1 Suryakumar Yadav vs Dwayne Bravo
Suryakumar Yadav has been the only positive for MI so far in an otherwise dismal IPL 2022 campaign. He has justified his retention with scores of 52, 68*, 43, and 37. He has been dismissed just once by Dwayne Bravo in the IPL, but the veteran West Indies all-rounder will be looking to put breaks on Suryakumar with one of his subtle variations. Bravo has scalped 10 wickets to his name this season and his tussle with Suryakumar will surely be intriguing.
#2 Rohit Sharma vs Ravindra Jadeja
Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja have a bit of history as well. Jadeja has dismissed Rohit three times in the IPL and only time will tell if he better those numbers. Both players have struggled to do well this season. While Rohit’s highest score in IPL 2022 has so far been 41 against the Delhi Capitals (DC), Jadeja has managed to scalp five wickets at an economy rate of 8.25.
#3 Shivam Dube vs Jasprit Bumrah
Shivam Dube has been CSK’s star performer in IPL 2022 as he has amassed 226 runs, including a 95* against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), from six matches. His swashbuckling strokeplay reminds us of a vintage Yuvraj Singh and the Mumbai lad will be eager to continue his momentum today.
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But it is easier said than done as MI has star pacer Jasprit Bumrah in their ranks. Although Bumrah has had a pretty below-par performance with just four wickets in six games, he has been economical. Batters seem content to play him out, but the speedster will look to get rid of the dangerous Dube and help Mumbai get off the mark this season.
