Having finally found the winning touch, Mumbai Indians will look to continue in a similar vein when they lock horns with beleaguered hosts Rajasthan Royals in an Indian Premier League (IPL) game at Sawai Mansingh stadium in Jaipur. Two-time champions Mumbai Indians were off to a horrible start this season, suffering three successive losses before skipper Rohit Sharma came to the team's rescue with a blazing 94 against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The 46-run drubbing of RCB has raised the morale of the players, and Mumbai Indians are seeking a similar outing against Rajasthan Royals on Sunday. Sharma was the reason behind the team breaking the run of losses and he is again going to be a key man for Mumbai Indians. West Indian Evin Lewis played his part with the bat, scoring 65, and then there are the likes of Kieron Pollard and the Pandya brothers - Hardik and Krunal.
That Pollard has recovered from an injury is definitely good news for MI. Another positive development is Hardik's 5-ball 17 the other night.
MI's bowlers too are feeling confident after they were able to withstand the firepower of the likes of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Led by India seamer Jasprit Bumrah, the Mumbai Indians bowling attack looks good with M J McClenaghan, Hardik, Mustafizur Rahman, M Markande and Krunal.
The visitors are currently placed sixth with two points, having lost three of their four matches, but the situation is not new for the visitors as they have effected dramatic turnarounds in the past.
The hosts, on the other hand, were demoralised by Shane Watson's belligerent century last night and they have very little time to recover from the massive defeat against Chennai Super Kings.
Captain Ajinkya Rahane will need to lead by example and inspire confidence in his players, besides making optimum utilisation of his meagre resources. Sanju Samson lit up the campaign with his 94 in one of the games, but the rest need to deliver.
In bowling, seamer Jaidev Unadkat has been ordinary so far. The home team is missing its mentor, the legendary Shane Warne, who has gone back to Australia to fulfil some commitments.
Teams (from):
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul Chahar, Ben Cutting, Akila Dananjaya, JP Duminy, Ishan Kishan, Siddhesh Lad, Evin Lewis, Sharad Lumba, Mayank Markande, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, Mohsin Khan, Mustafizur Rahman, MD Nidheesh, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Anukul Roy, Pradeep Sangwan, Tajinder Singh, Aditya Tare, Saurabh Tiwary, Suryakumar Yadav
Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane (C), Ankit Sharma, Anureet Singh, Jofra Archer, Stuart Binny, Aryaman Birla, Jos Buttler, Dushmantha Chameera, Prashant Chopra, Shreyas Gopal, Krishnappa Gowtham, Heinrich Klaasen, Dhawal Kulkarni, Ben Laughlin, Mahipal Lomror, Sudhesan Midhun, Sanju Samson, Jatin Saxena, D'Arcy Short, Ish Sodhi, Ben Stokes, Rahul Tripathi, Jaydev Unadkat.
(With PTI Inputs)
