Indian Premier League 2015, 32nd Match Preview: Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals

Mumbai batsmen, starting with Rohit, need to pull up their socks

Mumbai Indians (MI) kick start their second phase of this season's Pepsi Indian Premier League with a home game against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Friday.

Mumbai are yet to post back-to-back victories this season, and will be looking to do just that when the Royals travel to the Wankhede Stadium tomorrow.

The Royals, on other hand, come into this game on the back of two washed out fixtures, including yesterday's against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), and may just be feeling a bit desperate to play a full game.

These two sides produced a humdinger in the corresponding fixture at the Wankhede last season, and with the race for top 4 intensifying with each passing game; could we be in for another exhilarating contest?

Read on...as we get an understanding of how the sides stack up against each other, heading into tomorrow night's encounter.

Mumbai

MI's victories this season have come while they have batted first and put up competitive totals on the board.

Lendl Simmons starred with half-centuries in his side's victories against RCB and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and, just as it was season, is a vital cog in this stuttering Mumbai outfit.

Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard have been the two other MI batsmen to have made substantial contributions, with each one of them scoring over 200 runs so far in the tournament.

Although the aforementioned trio will once again hold the key against the Royals, the likes of Unmukt Chand, Parthiv Patel and Ambati Rayudu, if they play, ought to stand up and score runs for the team.

Chand, in particular, needs to score runs, as his tally of 89 runs from 4 innings, including a half-century against the Royal Challengers, doesn't reflect his potential and batting position (No.3) in the side.

If he comes good with the bat, not only will Mumbai score a lot more runs as a batting unit, but the likes of Pollard and Rohit, who are the power-hitters in the side, can play carefree cricket which will only bring the best of them.

The bowling attack has also failed to deliver except for one game against Sunrisers, who couldn't chase down a mere 158 in MI's last game.

Lasith Malinga, however, found some form in that game, picking up 4 wickets, and was tremendously backed up by Mitchell McClenaghan, who picked up 3 wickets himself.

Harbhajan Singh, despite having a poor outing against SRH, is the second highest wicket-taker, behind Malinga's 10, with 8 wickets under his belt so far. Harbhajan has also made crucial runs with the bat in certain games, and will be crucial to MI's success during the second phase of this season.

The trio of Malinga, McClenaghan and Harbhajan are certainties in Mumbai's playing XI, but which two bowlers complete the 5-man bowling attack Ricky Ponting and Rohit covet?

Jagadeesha Suchith bowled well in the win over SRH and exudes a calm head on his shoulders. If I was part of the team management, I would stick with him, solely on the basis of his performance in the last game.

Vinay Kumar, having taken just 1 wicket in 5 games and conceding close to 8 runs per over, is the weak link as far as Mumbai's bowling attack is concerned.

The alternatives for Vinay - Jasprit Bumrah, Pawan Suyal, Shreyas Gopal - haven't done well whenever they have been given chances, so it will be a tricky decision for the team management to take. But the Karnataka seamer, without a shadow of doubt, is the weak link in the bowling department.

Going into this game, I have no doubt that the batting lineup has to step up and deliver. The bowling attack, despite the presence of Malinga, McClenaghan and Harbhajan, remains Mumbai's weakest point, and looks likely to only feed off big totals set by the batsmen.

Rajasthan

The Royals are the team to have played the most games (9) already this season.

They won their first five games and had that invincibility about them, as they bulldozed the likes of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), Delhi Daredevils (DD) and Mumbai - teams that couldn't stand up to the might of Rajasthan.

Two of Royals' last four games have been washed out

The last four games, however, haven't gone to plan, as they lost in the super over to the Kings XI and were handed a thrashing at the Motera by Virat Kohli and company. Those two defeats have been followed by two washouts, keeping RR win-less for four games now.

The Royals though, unlike Mumbai, do not have major problems concerning them.

Ajinkya Rahane, their opening batsman, is the Orange Cap holder with 323 runs under his belt.

Though the other batsmen haven't exactly played to potential so far, their contributions - even if for one game - helped Rajasthan win the games in which they fired with the bat.

Steve Smith, despite having scored just 172 runs in 7 innings so far, engineered his side to victory with a 53-ball 79 against Mumbai when these sides met at the Motera earlier this season.

Shane Watson, in his very first game of the season, scored a 47-ball 73 to guide his side to an 8-wicket victory over CSK.

However, the Royals' middle-order packed with exuberant Indian talents in Sanju Samson, Deepak Hooda and Karun Nair, has yet to fire, and it could be one area for Mumbai to exploit the visitors tomorrow. Pick early wickets and get a stranglehold of the game, is what the hosts will be telling themselves right now.

Coming to the Royals' bowling, Pravin Tambe, the 44-year old leg-spinner, is the leading wicket-taker with 8 wickets to his name.

However, the likes of Tim Southee, James Faulkner, Dhawal Kulkarni and Watson himself, make up a good bowling attack that will fancy its chances under lights at the Wankhede.

Compared to Mumbai, Rajasthan look a well-balanced side, even though they too have a few weaknesses in their arsenal.

Also, having gone win-less in 4 games, there could be a smidgen of apprehension in the Royals' ranks, meaning that MI will be in with a shout if they play to potential.

Possible playing XIs

Mumbai: R Sharma (C), P Patel (WK), L Simmons, U Chand, K Pollard, A Rayudu, Hardik Pandya, H Singh, L Malinga, M McClenaghan and J Suchith.

Rajasthan: S Watson (C), A Rahane, S Smith, D Hooda, K Nair, Stuart Binny, S Samson (WK), J Faulkner, T Southee, P Tambe and D Kulkarni.

Final Thought

Aditya Tare was the hero in the corresponding fixture last season

Mumbai are yet to produce one comprehensive display in the 7 games they have played so far. From the Indians' perspective, it is now or never time for them and it remains to be seen whether they are up for this crunch situation.

Rajasthan are in second place on the table and do not have the kind of pressure their Friday's opponents are under. That could give them the edge over tomorrow's hosts.

This should be an intriguing fixture; but Rajasthan, with a more-balanced look to their side, start as favorites for this encounter at the Wankhede tomorrow.

Indian Premier League: Five Talking Points From Mumbai Indians' Victory Over Sunrisers Hyderabad

Mumbai Indians' bowling, spearheaded by Malinga, came good yesterday

Mumbai Indians (MI) registered their second win of this season's Indian Premier League (IPL), as they comfortably overcame an ordinary Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) side by 20 runs at the Wankhede Stadium yesterday.

Rohit Sharma chose to bat first after winning the toss, but his side could manage only 157/8, which was a below par score on a pitch that was on the slower side.

In reply, Sunrisers got off to a blistering start, with Shikhar Dhawan striking boundaries at will and taking the attack to Harbhajan Singh in particular, as the visitors raced to 50 well within the powerplay which, however, accounted for both the Sunrisers' openers.

Mumbai started growing in confidence at the fall of Dhawan for 42, as they succeeded in choking up the runs while also picking wickets at regular intervals, eventually going onto win the game by 20 runs.

In retrospect, what did we learn from that MI performance which... well, was good enough on the day?

MI still cannot get their team combination right

Prior to the game, I felt that the 1-time IPL winners needed a fresh opening pair. Parthiv Patel, who is experiencing a below-par IPL season with the bat, isn't the kind of batsman who will give you blistering starts at the top of the innings.

Having been handed a 5th consecutive opportunity in the playing XI, the diminutive southpaw scored a run-a-ball 17, failing to rotate strike and not playing the ideal foil for Lendl Simmons.

Also, in the bowling department, the selection of Vinay Kumar, who had picked up just 1 wicket and an economy rate of over 8 in the 4 games prior to yesterday, was inexplicable. The decision to sacrifice a batsman (Hardik Pandya) in order to make space for a bowler was not wrong, but the choice of replacement was definitely not the right one.

Jagadeesha Suchith, who replaced Jasprit Bumrah, bowled well and played a significant role in Mumbai getting a stranglehold of proceedings during the middle stages of the visitors' innings.

Fortuitously for the home side, none of their selection blunders cost them yesterday.

Mumbai's approach to their batting innings was plain cynical

Rohit, at the toss, said that his side would be cautious upfront, not lose wickets and pull the trigger during the latter stages of their innings.

Having not got off to good starts so far in the season, it was probably a sensible approach, which was executed to perfection by both the Mumbai openers.

However, the Indians left themselves with too much to do in the second-half of their innings. They reached 72/2 at the end of 10 overs and had Simmons and Rohit in the middle, but the nature of the surface was such that it got harder to score runs as the ball got older and older, a pattern that Rohit was well aware of before the game.

In addition to the slow playing surface on offer, Mumbai had to contend with a good Sunrisers' bowling attack that did not have a weak link in it, and on their own, they were a batsman short.

Taking these aspects into consideration, it was tough to understand why Mumbai took the defensive approach at the beginning of the innings, and found themselves way behind the eight ball going into the last 10 overs.

Simmons' form is a major positive

The Caribbean opener came up with a well-compiled knock of 51(42) that, in a way, held the innings together.

Simmons' 51(42) was crucial in the context of the game

On a slow surface it was crucial for the hosts that one batsman anchored the innings, which Simmons did.

When Dale Steyn dismissed the right-hander, Mumbai had reached 100/3 after 12.3 overs but could muster a mere 57 off the remaining 45 deliveries, highlighting the significance of the 30-year old's innings at the top of the order.

In the coming games, Simmons' form will be crucial to Mumbai's chances of surging upwards in the league table. With Rohit slotting himself at No.4, MI need a batsman, who can score quick runs and also face a good portion of the team's 20 overs, at the top of the order.

Simmons suffered an injury on his right leg while trying to stop a boundary, and went off the field with 5-6 overs to go. The Indians would be hoping that he is fit to play for them against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on May Day.

The bowling lineup came good...finally

Though the batting unit hasn't really delivered except for one game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), the bowling attack has had some serious questions asked of it.

With the batting unit once again failing to put up a decent score on the board, the onus was on MI's bowling to come up with a match-winning effort, and Lasith Malinga and co. did just that.

Harbhajan had a disappointing outing, conceding easy boundaries to Dhawan, who accrued 18 runs off the Turbanator's second over. Though the off-spinner came back well in his last two overs, he ended up conceding 36 off his 4 overs.

Mitchell McClenaghan and Malinga were the standout bowlers, who picked up 7 wickets between them and conceded a mere 43 runs in their 8 overs.

McClenaghan, in particular, bowled very well and dismissed some of the key SRH batsmen - Dhawan, K Lokesh Rahul and Ravi Bopara - at various stages during the innings.

Malinga took 3 wickets in his last over, and also accounted for David Warner at the beginning of Sunrisers' innings.

Suchith bowled an economic four over spell that was taken for only 25 runs, with Naman Ojha also getting out to the Karnataka spinner.

Mumbai Indians cannot read too much into their victory yesterday

It wouldn't be unfair of any of us to say that MI were a tad lucky to register their second win of this IPL season. 

The batting unit did not put up even a competitive score on the board, with Simmons and Kieron Pollard being the only batsmen who, with scores of 51 and 33 respectively, gave some respectability to the MI innings. 

And although the bowling attack delivered a good performance when it was needed the most, Sunrisers, once the duo of Warner and Dhawan got out, didn't even have one good batsman, who could have given the MI bowlers something to think about, in their middle and lower middle order.

Mumbai are yet to get their playing XI right too, meaning that they cannot be overly buoyant with the result yesterday.

There is plenty of work to be done.

Final Thought

With 5 more days to go before Mumbai face Rajasthan at the Wankhede Stadium, Ricky Ponting and company would be pleased about the victory last evening.

MI probably do not possess a quality squad like the Chennai Super Kings's or the Kings XI Punjab's. But, if they can get the balance of their playing XI spot on and build on from yesterday's victory over the Sunrisers, it would not be beyond them to make it to the playoffs for the sixth season running.