A rampaging Mumbai Indians were stalled by an inspired Rising Pune Supergiant at the Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai are currently ranked 2 in the points table and would want to win their next 2 games to breathe easy as they would be well placed to make it to the playoffs.
However, they are up against Gujarat Lions at Rajkot and will be wary of the resurgent Lions at their home turf and will hence want to put forward their best foot.
Extra Cover: Mumbai vs Gujarat: Live updates and commentary
Here is the predicted XI of the Mumbai Indians:
Jos Buttler
The promotion of Buttler to open the innings raised quite a lot of eyebrows but then the England international has been an X-factor right at the top of the order for Mumbai as his fearless strokeplay has managed to snatch the game away from the oppositon on a lot of occasions.
However, he has not been as consistent and now the management would want him to step up as the tournament enters the business end.
Parthiv Patel
The dimunutive wicket-keeper from Gujarat has been a quiet and consistent performer for Mumbai this season and has been a perfect foil for Buttler at the top of the order with his dashing stroke play has the abilit to give rapid starts to Mumbai.
Also, he is very safe behind the stumps and brings in leadership prowess to the table.
Nitish Rana
The young man has been a real find this season and has forced everyone around to sit up and take notice of his unbridled talent and potential. He has the game which is well-versed in both defence and attack.
He can wear down the bowlers at the top of the order and then can unleash a flurry a strokes with the potential of taking the game away from the oppostion.
Rohit Sharma
After a slightly iffy start to the tournament, Rohit is finally finding form and this is great news for Mumbai Indians. He will be gutted on missing out in the previous match against the Rising Pune Supergiant but his strokes and his range were back and this is a big positive for the team going forward.
An in-form Rohit has the potential to galvanise the entire batting unit and this will also have an influence on how he captains the side.
Kieron Pollard
The big man has looked in decent touch right through the tournament and has chipped in with a couple of match-winnhiing performances for the team.
He is a gun fielder in the field and has already pulled off many stunning catches in the field along with his agile movements has saved many runs for the team. With the ball, he can chip in with few crucial overs and there is a reason why he is one of the most reliable players in the squad.
Krunal Pandya
The left-arm all-rounder missed the match against Pune owing to sickness and he should be back for the clash against the Gujarat Lions. He lends balance to the team both with the bat and the ball. Also, he is a decent fielder and brings so much to the table for Mumbai.
Hardik Pandya
The junior Pandya too has been in great hitting form this season and has already played a number of finishing innings for Mumbai this season. He has also been decent with the ball and has got the move around off the seam. He has also found his yorkers towards the death of the innings.
He could well make his place into the Indian Champions Trophy squad as the all-rounder in the squad.
Harbhajan Singh
The experienced campaigner has been bowling really well and is probably one of the spinners of the tournament so far. He has control and variation up his sleeve and this allows him to not only contain runs put also has picked up wickets.
This season his economy rate is 5.88 rpo in 7 matches and his has been a huge boost to the Mumbai Indians in their bowling effort.
Mitchell McClenaghan
The burly Kiwi was stuggling initially in the tournament bu the Mumbai management persisted with him and now he has started yielding dividends for the team. He takes the new ball and has bowled many hostile spells up front has set the tone for Mumbai.
He also is a safe bet with the older ball and believes it utilising the pitch more than pitching the ball up to the batsman.
Mitchell Johnson
Johnson replaced Malinga and has proven to be a good addition to the Mumbai ranks. He is hostile up front and keeps up the pressure on the batting order.
Also, towards the end of the innings he can be a potentially match-winning prospect. And then there is power hitting angle which has not yet surfaced but then on his day he can cream a few balls out of the ground at will.
Jasprit Bumrah
It will be no exaggeration if we say that Jasprit Bumrah is the leader of the attack and he has grown into a gun bowler both during the powerplay and then he is probably one of the best in the world when it comes down to death bowling and has the ability to turn around matches all by his own towards the end.
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