After an eventful tournament, we are down to the last two of the Vivo IPL season 10. Mumbai Indians play Rising Pune Supergiant in a winner takes all grand finale at Hyderabad. Well, it's safe to say that the battle of "Vada Pav vs Misal Pav" has reached its pinnacle. Both the teams are worthy to fight for the prized trophy and will go head to head for the fourth time in this season.
Though Mumbai have not won a single game against their arch rivals Pune this season, their confidence will be high after a thumping win in the second qualifier against Kolkata Knight Riders. The Indians have a chance to write history tonight as with a win over RPS, they can become the most successful IPL team of all-time with three titles. What more do you need for motivation?
On that note, here are the five reasons which make Mumbai Indians clear favourites to win this year's Indian Premier League against Rising Pune Supergiant:
#1 History favouring the Indians
There has been a lot of talk about RPS doing a treble over Mumbai this season which might look like they have a slight edge over the Indians. But that's not the case and one statistic will prove that all wrong. Tonight will be the fourth meeting between the Maharashtra rivals and it will happen for just the third time in the history of IPL. Surprisingly, Mumbai Indians have featured on all the three occasions.
Mumbai faced Chennai Super Kings four times in 2013 and 2015 and went on to win the title. In 2013, Mumbai won both the league games and then won the final after losing in the first qualifier.
In 2015, Mumbai won three games on a trot after losing the first encounter at the Chepauk. It is interesting to note that no team has ever won four games against an opponent in the same edition which makes tonight’s final slightly tilt in Mumbai's favour.
#2 Depth in the batting department
If there is one team this season, that has looked worthy of chasing down any total, it is the Mumbai Indians. There is a mix of youth, calmness and an explosiveness in their batting lineup which makes them a complete side in the tournament.
The opening duo of Parthiv Patel and Lendl Simmons have been successful since the last couple of seasons and following them are the experienced Indian batters like Ambati Rayudu and Rohit Sharma.
The youngster, Nitish Rana was immense in the first half of Mumbai's journey to the final but has seen his place go to the trusted Ambati Rayudu. Kieron Pollard has not fired like he would have wanted to this season but is one of the hardest hitters of the cricket ball and remains a worry for the opposition.
The Pandya brothers have been a crucial cog in Mumbai's wheels and will continue to be the team's backbone in the coming years. This extra special and dependable lineup from number one to seven is what sets Mumbai apart from the Rising Pune Supergiant.
#3 A superior pace attack
Pune have been statistically the best bowling side this season with Jaydev Unadkat spearheading their attack with vigour and purpose. But on the whole, Mumbai have a stunning pace department which proved its worth in the second qualifier against Kolkata Knight Riders.
Mitchell Johnson has grabbed his few chances well this season and has been bowling a fiery spell up front. This might be the difference in the power play as the RPS openers have struggled to make a partnership and Johnson will look to take full use of that.
Then there's Mitchell Mclenaghan who might be fit enough to play today and will increase the pressure on the Pune batters. Hardik Pandya has been inspiring whenever he has been called on to bowl. The trump card for Mumbai will obviously be Jasprit Bumrah who has been in a sensational form currently and reached his best figures of 7/3 in the last game.
Bumrah has a brilliant record against MS Dhoni which may prompt captain Sharma to bring him into the attack as soon as Dhoni comes on to bat. Mumbai have a lot of options in their pace department who are firing all guns blazing which can take them over the finishing line.
#4 A plethora of match winners
Mumbai Indians have been there done that in a crunch final situation two times before whereas Pune don’t have much experience of reaching the playoffs, let alone playing in the final. Pune have a lot of younger uncapped players in their ranks whereas Mumbai Indians have a balanced team of internationals who have proved their worth on the biggest of stages.
Simmons proved he can handle pressure in big matches last year in the T20 World Cup semis against India while Sharma and Rayudu have done that time and again for Mumbai.
Pollard is a match winner in himself whereas Hardik Pandya has often won games with bat and ball for both club and country. Then there's Johnson and Bumrah where one starts with the new ball with intent and the other finishes it off with swagger.
This makes the Indians having players who have played in crunch pressure situations before and emerged victorious whereas the Supergiant might find it tough when they are pinned against the wall tonight.
#5 A total team effort
This has been a strange season as neither Rohit Sharma nor Jasprit Bumrah has been close to getting a hold of the famed Orange and Purple caps respectively. No team in the IPL this season has played as a unit more so than the Mumbai Indians. And this is what makes them better placed to lift the trophy in Hyderabad tonight.
Sharma is the only batsman from the Mumbai squad who has scored 300+ runs this season which goes on to show the balance of this team which is not dependent on one or two match winners.
Pune banked a lot on Ben Stokes in the group stages and now with him gone, they will look up to Steve Smith and MS Dhoni to guide them over the line. Mumbai's lesser known Indian contingent have won them games throughout the season which effectively sets these two teams apart going into tonight's blockbuster.
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download CricRocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more! 🚀☄️
