IPL 2017: Rising Pune Supergiant vs Mumbai Indians, 5 Talking Points

#2 Imran Tahir runs through the Mumbai top order

Tahir was economical and picked up three key wickets

Much of the talk preceding Rising Pune Supergiant’s opening game of the season revolved around their spin bowling combination. Eyebrows were raised when the franchise chose to replace injured Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh with Imran Tahir, instead of opting for a like-for-like all-rounder or bolstering their uni-dimensional batting line-up with a powerful striker.

Tahir is the No. 1 T20I bowler but RPS had already in their ranks Adam Zampa, who had a productive season amidst RPS’s woes last year. Going into their season opener, Smith made the tough call of picking Tahir to complement Zampa, at the cost of Faf du Plessis – a move that was fairly unexpected.

After a quick start by Mumbai Indians’ opening pair, Tahir was introduced in the 5th over of the innings to put the brakes on the onslaught. He started off with a boundary ball to Parthiv, but responded to the captain’s call immediately, bowling the diminutive left-hander round his legs.

Rohit Sharma’s much-anticipated comeback was short as he was left clueless by a ripper from Tahir in his next over. Tahir claimed his third wicket of the day when he got the dangerous-looking Buttler trapped in front of the stumps. Replays later showed that there was a thick inside edge, but nevertheless, Tahir had ensured Mumbai would crumble after a promising start.