Champions Mumbai Indians open their defence in the Indian Premier League 2016 with a match against the new entrant Rising Pune Supergiants in Mumbai on Saturday. Here is the low-down on the two sides:
Rising Pune Supergiants
The team is led by the Indian ODI and Twenty20 captain M.S. Dhoni who earlier successfully led the suspended Chennai Super Kings to two IPL and two Champions League titles.
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Besides Dhoni, RPS has some big players in Faf du Plessis, Steve Smith, Ajinkya Rahane, Albie Morkel and Kevin Pietersen. The team's bowling is led by Ishant Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Irfan Pathan, Ishwar Pandey and R.P. Singh. Australian Adam Zampa, who bowled brilliantly in the World T20 championships, is also in the side.
However, except Ashwin and Zampa no other RPS bowler has delivered consistently. Though Mitchell Marsh is there, we have to wait and see whether Dhoni selects him as du Plessis, Smith, Pietersen are default choices due to their powerful performances. As for other foreign players — Marsh, Morkel and Zampa — Dhoni will have to decide according to the match situation.
Dhoni may opt for Murugan Ashwin who has done reasonably well for the Tamil Nadu side. The leg-spinner has taken 10 wickets in the six T20 matches he has played with three for 18 as his best.
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Our choice for the RSP XI today:
M.S. Dhoni (captain and wicket-keeper), Ajinkya Rahane, Faf du Plessis, Kevin Pietersen, Steve Smith, R. Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Murugan Ashwin, Morkel or Marsh or Zampa and Ashok Dinda.
Mumbai Indians
The defending champion is led by Indian opener Rohit Sharma. Though the two-time champions are up against a formidable batting line-up in the RPS, they may have an upper hand as RPS is yet to gel as a team.
Mumbai Indians also have a formidable batting line-up in Sharma, Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Hardik Pandya and Corey Anderson. Parthiv Patel could also turn match-winner on a good day.
The bowling department will be led by offie Harbhajan Singh and Jasprit Bumrah. With Tim Southee, Corey Anderson and Vinay Kumar as back-up, the MI bowling attack looks settled.
MI also has all-rounder Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya’s brother, in their arsenal. In 15 T20 matches, he has scored 167 runs at an average of 23.85; 51 being his highest. He has also taken 16 wickets with three-for-25 as his best. He is also a fine fielder like his brother.
Our choice of MI XI today:
Rohit Sharma (captain), Lendl Simmons, Parthiv Patel (wicket-keeper), Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Corey Anderson, Hardik Pandya, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, R. Vinay Kumar and Tim Southee.
Who would you pick? Let us know your ideal playing XI for today for either side in the comments.