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The two most decorated franchises in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will face off in Match 12 of the 2023 edition at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday, April 8.
MS Dhoni and Co. made an early statement regarding their home prowess, notching up a comeback win over the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and getting off the mark in the competition. Away from home, though, they could be in for a real challenge.
MI lost their opening game of yet another IPL season as they fell to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by a whopping eight-wicket margin. However, they will hope that a return to home turf will work in their favor and help them get amongst the points earlier this time around.
Both teams will have a couple of new players to choose from for this contest. MI recently replaced Jhye Richardson with Riley Meredith, but the rapid Aussie quick might not feature on Saturday. The Men in Yellow, meanwhile, can call upon Sisanda Magala's services, with the South African having joined the squad after completing his international assignment.
The head-to-head record between the two sides is rather skewed in favor of MI, but their recent results paint a fairer picture. The five-time champions have beaten their closest competitors in three of their last five meetings, with the chasing side having won four times.
IPL 2023, MI vs CSK Match Prediction: Chennai bowling attack faces its toughest test yet
MI's opening pair have experienced some tough times of late. While Rohit Sharma hasn't had an IPL season of note for quite a few years now, Ishan Kishan's technical shortcomings have been exposed multiple times.
Mumbai will welcome facing CSK, though, with the Men in Yellow having dished out two terrible powerplay bowling displays thus far. Deepak Chahar has been completely out of rhythm, while Tushar Deshpande's performances have oscillated between horrendous and incredible.
The MI middle order might also fancy the Super Kings' bowling in the middle overs. Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma are excellent players of both spin and pace, while the big-hitting Tim David is bound to come good at the earliest.
With CSK's current pace attack, it's almost impossible to see them beating MI at the Wankhede Stadium. They will have to make some reinforcements by either sacrificing a batter and bringing in a domestic fast bowler or replacing Mitchell Santner with either Sisanda Magala or Dwaine Pretorius.
Even if the Men in Yellow pick Magala, who has been in excellent form of late, they might be left short-handed in the spin department. With Maheesh Theekshana still unavailable and Ben Stokes struggling to live up to his price tag, CSK are having to choose between two frustrating options.
Anything can happen in a game of cricket, especially one that involves high-profile teams like CSK and MI. As things stand, though, the home side's batting might should prove to be too hot to handle for Dhoni and Co.
While Chennai are definitely in with a chance, Mumbai are the slight favorites to pick up two points and consequently get their campaign running.
Prediction: MI to win Match 12 of IPL 2023.
