XtraTime Web Desk: After getting their first points of the season against Royal Challengers Bangalore in their last game Mumbai Indians will look to continue that momentum when they will face a depleted Rajasthan Royals in an Indian Premier League match tomorrow.
Three time champions Mumbai Indians started poorly in this season as they lost three successive games, but after that MI skipper Rohit Sharma came to the party as he scored 94 runs against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The first win has definitely give MI much confidence and would want to capitalize on it against Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium tomorrow.
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 fire power 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 Mclenaghan, Hardik, Mustafizur Rehaman, 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.
The Teams (from):
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (captain), 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 (captain), 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.