MI v SRH, IPL 2021: Mumbai Indians' predicted playing XI

The Mumbai Indians (MI) will look to continue their winning momentum when they take on the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Match 9 of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

After falling narrowly short to the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the IPL 2021 season opener, MI came back brilliantly to choke the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and get their first points of the campaign. SRH, meanwhile, are yet to get off the mark in the competition, with close losses to KKR and RCB.

MI's squad for IPL 2021: Rohit Sharma, Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Dhawal Kulkarni, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Quinton de Kock, Rahul Chahar, Suryakumar Yadav, Chris Lynn, Mohsin Khan, Saurabh Tiwary, Trent Boult, Adam Milne, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, James Neeshan, Yudhvir Charak, Marco Jansen, Arjun Tendulkar

Here is MI's predicted playing XI for the IPL 2021 game against SRH.

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Openers: Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk)

Rohit Sharma [L]

Captain Rohit Sharma was sold down the river by Chris Lynn in the first game of IPL 2021, but he made sure he got back amongst the runs with a fluent 43 against KKR. The MI skipper has never had a truly prolific season in the IPL - a record he will like to set straight this year.

Quinton de Kock's early jitters against spin surfaced once again against KKR, as Varun Chakravarthy had him caught in the deep. The South African opener hasn't been in great form over the last few months and will eye a big score.

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Middle Order: Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard

Suryakumar Yadav [L]

If De Kock isn't in great form, the middle order duo of Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan are the polar opposite.

While Suryakumar has over 80 runs in the tournament already, Kishan has started off slow due to a couple of poor shots. They will want to replicate their heroics from last year, as will Kieron Pollard, who hasn't had the chance to spend a lot of time in the middle so far.

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All-rounders: Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Marco Jansen

Marco Jansen

Marco Jansen, MI's newest recruit, impressed in the first game by taking two wickets and bowling the crucial last over. Although he went wicketless in the second and hasn't made an impact with the bat so far, he should keep his place in the team ahead of Nathan Coulter-Nile.

The Pandya brothers have had quiet starts to IPL 2021, but Krunal bowled a spectacular spell in the previous game against KKR. Hardik hasn't bowled yet in the tournament, and MI will hope that they don't need his services in this game as well.

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Bowlers: Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult

Rahul Chahar [L]

Rahul Chahar roared back to form with a 4-wicket haul against KKR, just when it seemed like he'd be replaced by veteran leg-spinner Piyush Chawla. The young leggie generated appreciable turn and bounce, and will have a key role to play against the SRH right-handers.

MI's pace duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult rounds off the playing XI. While Bumrah has been effective as ever despite returning from a rather long layoff, Boult delivered a superb match-winning last over against KKR.