IPL 2018, Match 1: Mumbai Indians' predicted playing XI for their match against Chennai Super Kings

T20 fever is back! The 2018 Indian Premier League is all set to get underway in just a day's time with defending champions Mumbai Indians taking on the returning Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.

Ahead of the match, both the teams are sweating it out hard as the arch-rivals will look to get the better of each other in the tournament opener. Both the teams are strong enough and the team management will have a lot of headaches in picking the perfect playing XI.

Let us take a look at how Mumbai Indians will line up for the 2018 IPL.

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Opening batsmen

Opening the batting for Mumbai Indians will be West Indian batsman Evin Lewis and wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan.

Mumbai Indians hit the jackpot at the IPL auction when they got Lewis for just 3.8 crores. Lewis, who has drawn a lot of comparisons with his fellow countryman Chris Gayle, thanks to the way he plays the format, can hit the ball a long way and he is someone who can change the complexion of the match in a matter of balls.

Ishan Kishan, on the other hand, is a similar batsman to Lewis and can take on the bowlers from the word go. In all likelihood, Ishan will open the batting in spite of the left-left combination at the top as skipper Rohit Sharma likes to anchor the innings for Mumbai.

Middle-order batsmen

Mumbai Indians' HITman will look to get the tournament off to a flier

If the opposition team think they can relax for a while after getting one of the two opening batsmen, Rohit Sharma will walk out to bat at number three for Mumbai Indians. Being a prolific run-scorer in the tournament, Rohit will expect to anchor the innings and finish the innings with a flourish.

Following Rohit will be his Mumbai teammate Suryakumar Yadav, who came back to Mumbai Indians at the 2018 IPL auction after having a great time with Kolkata Knight Riders.

Kieron Pollard is someone who will be in the mix to bat in the battle order. The Trinidadian will turn up for Mumbai Indians yet again and will look to continue his good work with the bat, something he has done for the team whenever they needed in the past.

All-rounders

The Pandya brothers

One of the main reasons for Mumbai Indians' success in the 2017 IPL is the consistent performance of their all-rounders, the Pandya brothers. Both Krunal and Hardik have been an integral part of the Mumbai Indians' set-up over the last two-three years and as expected, the franchise retained both of them ahead of the 2018 IPL.

Hardik, who is a regular in the Indian side across all three formats, will have to be at his best not only with the bat but also with the ball as he is expected to complete the team's fifth bowler's quota as they don't have a reliable option for that place.

Krunal, on the other hand, will lead the Mumbai spin attack and is also capable of scoring some crucial runs with the bat.

Spinners

All eyes will be on Rahul Chahar

Mumbai Indians surprised everyone by going all-out for leg-spinner Rahul Chahar as they bought him for Rs. 1.9 crores at the 2018 IPL auction. Chahar was supposed to travel to New Zealand with the Prithvi Shaw-led Indian team for the under-19 team earlier this year but was left out of the Indian squad due to unknown reasons.

But, the 18-year-old had some good news coming his way from the IPL auction and the leg-spinner will turn up for his second IPL side already. He will be backing Krunal Pandya in the spin department and will have to play out of his skin to cement his place in the playing XI.

Fast bowlers

Mumbai Indians have brilliant seamers in Mustafizur Rahman and Jasprit Bumrah

As expected, ahead of the 2018 IPL auction, Mumbai retained Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah and went on to buy the likes of Jason Behrendorff, Pat Cummins, and Mustafizur Rahman. Bumrah is arguably the best limited-overs fast bowler at the moment and will be playing every single match his team plays.

He will be accompanied by two out of Cummins, Mustafizur and Micthell McClenaghan, who came in as a replacement for an injured Dorff.

To strengthen their bowling, Mumbai will go in with two overseas pacers and in all likelihood, it will be the Aussie pacer Cummins and Bangladesh's Mustafizur.

Mustafizur and Bumrah bowling in the death overs will choke the run flow of the opposition side while Cummins can be the leader of the attack.