Mumbai Indians (MI) host Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday, April 23, on the back of their thumping of the Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad. MI will be brimming with a lot of confidence in their ranks, especially after Tilak Varma helped engineer their resurrection with a 45-ball century. CSK’s last outing was against Sunrisers Hyderabad away from home, which they sadly lost by 10 runs. CSK have also been affected by the absence of MS Dhoni due to injury, although there are rumours that he might be back soon.
CSK have also suffered the loss of young batter Ayush Mhatre due to a hamstring injury. Mhatre, who hails from and plays for Mumbai in domestic cricket, would have been looking forward to turning out at the Wankhede, but fate had other plans. The Chennai-based outfit will now have to look at other options in their side for a number three batter. With the ball in hand, however, Mukesh Choudhary and Anshul Kamboj have delivered for CSK, and this needs to continue.
Unlike MI, CSK do not have a strong overseas player base this season, and this has seen them go short on experience. The home team will get a huge boost in confidence after Varma’s knock, especially after captain Hardik Pandya mentioned so. Pandya also said that it was high time that the southpaw came and delivered. MI’s bowling has also been boosted by the presence of Ashwani Kumar, who is now back in the setup and picked up four wickets in Ahmedabad. At the time of writing, MI are ranked seventh in the table with four points. CSK follow their opponents in the standings with the same number of points.
Predicted Teams
MI: Danish Malewar, Quinton de Kock (wk), Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya( c), Tilak Varma, Sherfane Rutherford, Mitchell Santner, Krish Bhagat, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashwani Kumar.
CSK: Sanju Samson (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube, Dewald Brevis, Jamie Overton, Matthew Short, Anshul Kamboj, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Gurjapneet Singh.
Key Players
Tilak Varma (MI): Tilak Varma is one of the best batters in the shortest format in India. The southpaw is known to start slowly, but has the potential to finish on a high. Varma is an extremely gifted batter who has also worked hard on his weaknesses to become a powerhouse in T20 cricket. He can finish the innings well for MI either when they are batting first or when they are chasing a big total. The Hyderabadi has a lot of fancy shots in his book.
Noor Ahmad (CSK): Noor Ahmad is a trump card in CSK’s armoury. The left-arm wrist spinner is an extremely consistent customer who does not give much width or room to batters to free their arms. The Afghanistan international has adjusted well to the conditions in India and will look forward to plying his trade in Mumbai, where the pitch is known to assist spinners. Ahmad will play a crucial role for CSK in the middle overs.
Match Prediction
At home, MI will be hard to beat. We expect them to win. For CSK to even challenge their opponents, the likes of Sanju Samson and Ruturaj Gaikwad need to start firing at the top of the order. The duo have been short of runs, save a few explosive innings occasionally, and they need to take up the mantle in the absence of Dhoni. In the middle order, the likes of Sarfaraz Khan and Shivam Dube (both of whom hail from Mumbai) will be tasked to finish their innings well. Still, MI’s overall balance is much stronger than that of their opponents.
