Transfers made – 0; Transfers remaining – 24
(uncapped) Jayant Yadav out – Krunal Pandya in
Batting/ Full match captain – Rohit Sharma
Bowling captain – Jasprit Bumrah
Batting captaincy options – Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, Hashim Amla
The deck I saw in the last match played at this venue is the most difficult one of the tournament, so even though I could carry Murali Vijay and Hashim Amla to their next match, I am not bringing any of them in. I could, however, reconsider this if I can find signs of a flat deck today.
Whichever way that turns out to be, Rohit Sharma would be my captain for this match. Sandeep Sharma can trouble him with the new ball, but Vijay has this weird habit of taking the speedster out after his first over – which could make it easy for the Mumbai Indians captain. All he needs to do is escape the first over, as Mohit has lost his ability to swing the ball, while Anureet has never done it.
Mumbai have shown a tendency to demote both Jos Buttler and Kieron Pollard, so despite their fireworks in the last match, I am not interested in them.
Bowling captaincy options – Jasprit Bumrah, Mitchell McClenaghan, Mohit Sharma, Sandeep Sharma
Bumrah and McClenaghan are bowling to a weaker batting unit, so it has to be between the two. Since I don’t have McClenaghan, Bumrah it will be.
Nature of the deck – Assists both spinners and seamers. Except a low scoring affair.
Uncapped player order – Krunal Pandya, KC Cariappa, Unmukt Chand, Anureet Singh
MI – Fantasy Clinchers
I am tired of saying why Mumbai should change their playing XI. They don’t seem to be hearing it. In fact, they have further weakened their team now by bringing in Nitish Rana, who looks worse than an out-of-form Hardik Pandya – a possibility I never thought existed.
The only change I expect today is Unmukt Chand getting in place of Parthiv Patel.
KXIP – Fantasy Clinchers
There is no update on Glenn Maxwell's injury status, so I am not quite sure if he will back in for David Miller, who has been woefully out of form for the entire season. Apart from that, I don’t see any changes happening.
With Anureet in and Amla opening, Kings XI look a much better side than they were in the match against the Daredevils. Marcus Stoinis seems to do better in the middle order than as an opener.
Match call – Mumbai Indians to win.
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