Bowling may not be the easiest task at Wankhede Stadium but there can be some bounce on offer in this surface. As a result, this could be an opportunity for Delhi Daredevils’ batting to come good © IANS
The Mumbai Indians (MI) will host the Delhi Daredevils (DD) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 Match 39 at the Wankhede Stadium. The last time the two teams met was in Delhi when DD emerged victorious. MI have done well to bounce back in IPL 8 and would want to keep that momentum going. After four days of double headers, we have a day where only a single match would be played. Try to emulate Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid while playing on Indian pitches, says Lendl Simmons
The Wankhede Stadium is a good venue for batsmen, as they can score some big runs through the innings. Bowling may not be the easiest task but there can be some bounce on offer in this surface. This could be an opportunity for DD’s batting to come good. They played against RR on Sunday a few blocks away from the Wankhede Stadium. Now, they may know the conditions and the nature of the soil. Mumbai Indians aim for 3rd consecutive win when they take on Delhi Daredevils
MI would want to maintain the winning combination and not tinker with it. The only thing they would introspect about is the fact that they did not get enough runs in the last 10 overs against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). They had started very well but lost their way and scored runs slowly. Having said that, the return to form of Parthiv Patel was a good development and it complements Lendl Simmons at the top. In Mitchell McClenaghan, they have an able cohort for Lasith Malinga. The team has started looking a lot better with McClenaghan coming in. IPL 2015 is still wide open, says Angelo Mathews
Going over to DD, they may well consider bringing back Imran Tahir to the side after he was benched in favour of the extra fast bowler. The Wankhede surface may have more for the spinners and that should prompt them to bring in the leggie again. Tahir and Amit Mishra have formed a great partnership and it is important for DD that they come good. Why IPL 2015 is virtually over for KXIP, DD, SRH and MI
The batting may have blown hot and cold but there is enough firepower to dominate. Yuvraj Singh needs to come to the party though. He has not fired consistently this season and it is about time he adds strength. JP Duminy and Angelo Mathews’ presence strengthens the middle order. If Yuvraj contributes, this would be one strong unit. JP Duminy blames poor batting, fielding, lack of intensity for Delhi Daredevils’ loss to Rajasthan Royals
Squads:
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Parthiv Patel (wk), Unmukt Chand, Aditya Tare (wk), Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Corey Anderson, Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga, J Suchith, Shreyas Gopal, Jasprith Bumrah, Pawan Suyal, Akshay Wakhare, R Vinay Kumar, Aiden Blizzard, Siddhesh Lad, Mitchell McClenaghan, Abhimanyu Mithun, Marchant de Lange, Hardik Pandya.
Delhi Daredevils: JP Duminy (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Mayank Agarwal, Manoj Tiwary, Yuvraj Singh, Saurabh Tiwary, Angelo Mathews, Kedar Jadhav, Imran Tahir, Amit Mishra, Shahbaz Nadeem, Zaheer Khan, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammed Shami, CM Gautam, Gurinder Sandhu, Jayant Yadav, Albie Morkel, Srikar Bharat, Marcus Stoinis, Dominic Joseph Muthuswamy, Shreyas Iyer, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Karapak Jiyas, Travis Head.
Time: 20:00 IST | 02:30 GMT
(Nishad Pai Vaidya is a Correspondent with CricketCountry and anchor for the site’s YouTube Channel. His Twitter handle is @nishad_45)