Not many would have been surprised that the Mumbai Indians had sealed the top place in the league standings with a game in hand. However, not many would have predicted the second spot to be occupied by the other team from Maharashtra.
In fact, on the back of the forgettable season it had last year, not many would have fancied Rising Pune Supergiant to even make the cut, let alone finish second.
But as the Supergiant contingent took another bus ride to Mumbai on Monday afternoon, the unit was thrilled to have ticked the first objective it had set for itself prior to the season. Even after losing Ben Stokes — the all-rounder who justified his whopping price tag with stellar all-round performances — to national duty, the Pune outfit knows that it holds the phychological advantage over Mumbai Indians.
After all, Supergiant is the only team that Mumbai Indians have failed to beat so far in this IPL as Rohit Sharma’s men ended up on the wrong side of the Maharashtra derby on both the occasions.
No wonder then that Ajinkya Rahane, the Mumbaikar who is one of the vital cogs of Pune Supergiant, did his best to hint that Mumbai Indians is the team under pressure. “I think it is a psychological advantage for sure but cricket is a game where what you do on the day matters.
It is definitely an advantage that we have won two games against them but Mumbai is a very good team,” Rahane said on Sunday after Supergiant sealed a place in playoffs with an emphatic win against Kings XI Punjab at home.
However, even Rahane conceded that facing Mumbai Indians at its den, the Wankhede Stadium, will be a daunting task.
Ever since the IPL’s inception, Mumbai Indians has a terrific record at home. The ongoing season has been no exception, with Mumbai Indians having won its last four games here. The fact that the previous loss at its backyard was against Supergiant, hands extra motivation for Mumbai Indians to set the record straight.
More than avenging the two losses in the league stage, the team would be hoping to assure itself of a place in the fourth appearance in an IPL final.
Just like Stokes, his England counterpart with Mumbai Indians, Jos Buttler, has also joined England’s preparation for the Champions Trophy. But Mumbai has drafted Lendl Simmons in for the last four games.
Interestingly, since the playoffs were introduced in 2011, the team finishing second in the league stage has gone on to emerge the champion five of the six times, with last year being the exception. Sunrisers Hyderabad finished third in 2016 before eventually triumphing.
If it can beat Mumbai Indians against the odds on Sunday, Pune Supergiant can certainly hope to reset the trend come Sunday.
