Mumbai Indians players will need to play out of their skins to gift Sachin Tendulkar his desired birthday present. The MI captain is desperate to win DLF IPL-3 to make up for their disastrous performances in the first two editions. He is not sure of stepping onto the field for Sunday's final against Chennai Super Kings, so MI have to be mentally ready to go all-out for their skipper, taking inspiration from his presence in the dressing room rather than on the field.
Split webbings on hands don't heal in three days when wounds are serious enough to require five stitches, so Tendulkar, the batsmen, may have to take a backseat in the decider. J.P. Duminy, Kieren Pollard, Saurabh Tiwary, Ambati Rayudu and Shikhar Dhawan can play big knocks but they don't quite have the aura of a Tendulkar at the crease.
Fit and ready
CSK have no such captaincy hiccups, with M.S. Dhoni firmly in charge as the team approaches its second IPL final with absolute confidence. His ability to soak up pressure takes the load off teammates, allowing them to focus on task at hand. He is also slipping into form with the bat; he worked hard to accumulate runs in the semifinal even when RCB bowlers held the upper hand, and is an effortless finisher when push comes to the shove.
Dhoni's confidence rubs off on CSK bowlers, allowing him to pull out surprises like having young off-spinner R. Ashwin operating with the new ball with left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati choking run flow in the middle overs so that internationals Doug Bollinger, Muthiah Muralitharan and Albie Morkel get the breathing space to do their stuff.
MI will feel the squeeze in case the batsmen get bogged down in the powerplay. Ashwin and Muralitharan taking on the aggressive Dhawan, Tiwary or Duminy with balls fizzing away makes for a keen contest.
MI bowling is in capable hands of vice-captain Zaheer Khan, assisted by Harbhajan Singh in calibrating the point of attack as planned by the coaching staff.
Coach Robin Singh and manager T.A. Sekar deserve credit for the effortless manner in which Zaheer has assumed charge of bowling operations from the moment Tendulkar walked off. Dilhara Fernando checked scoring by varying his place and line while Pollard, Harbhajan and Lasith Malinga dealt the body blows.
Horses for courses
The nature of the wicket chosen for Sunday's final at the D.Y. Patil stadium will have a bearing on bowling choices.
Five bowlers completing their four-over quota has been the MI gameplan in IPL3, unlike other teams which try out more bowlers to make it tougher for batsmen to get their eye in.
CSK stroke-players Murali Vijay, Matthew Hayden, Suresh Raina, S. Badrinath and Dhoni can gain the upperhand if MI is forced to try out bowling options beyond the chosen five.
