MS Dhoni
Indian Premier League is back and the 13th edition of the tournament will be kicked off by two of the most successful teams - Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians on Saturday at the Sheikh Zayed stadium in bu Dhabi. And ahead of the opener which begins at 7:30 PM IST, MS Dhoni and his men have left for the stadium.
This will be their 31st meeting on the field and Mumbai Indians lead the head-to-head tie 18-12 thus being the only team to have a positive win-loss record against the three-time champions. The turnaround in the fate of Mumbai came after 2013 following which they have won 10 of their 16 meetings in IPL itself. And in 2019, they recorded an unbeaten head-to-head tie against Chennai, winning all four meetings including two at the Chepauk.
On Saturday, Mumbai will have the chance to make it six in a row against Chennai with the streak going back to April 28, 2018.
Chennai faced an early jolt upon arrival in the UAE as veteran players Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh opted out of the entire tournament. But the franchise remained unfazed amid the presence of a calm-headed MS Dhoni, who will be making his return to the sports after a space of 437 days.
Mumbai might feel the absence of Lasith Malinga who cited "personal reasons" in opting out of the tournament. But they have depth in their pace lineup to cover up the absence of the veteran pacer.
