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Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh feels the Mumbai Indians (MI) batters will face a stiff challenge from the spinners of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the IPL 2023 Elminator in Chennai on Wednesday, May 24.
MI's explosive batting has struggled on venues like the Chepauk, Ekana Stadium, etc. where there has been grip and turn on offer. Harbhajan also spoke about the quality and variety present in LSG's spin attack.
In a video on his YouTube channel, here's what Harbhajan Singh had to say about the match-ups in the Eliminator:
"It will be interesting to see how Mumbai bat against the spinners as I feel Ravi Bishnoi has been the biggest match-winner in the last two games for Lucknow. He picked up a couple of crucial wickets on both occasions and will be a major threat with great support from Krunal Pandya and Krishnappa Gowtham."
Harbhajan also stressed the importance of experienced players of spin like Krunal Pandya and Marcus Stoinis stepping up with bat. He added:
"LSG have the bowling for this pitch, but their Indian batters like Krunal Pandya and Deepak Hooda will need to put runs in the board. Even Marcus Stoinis has showed that he can score big and it will be interesting to see who steps up on the big occasion. For me, Krunal Pandya and Stoinis would be the key."
Mumbai knows how to play on the big stage: Harbhajan Singh
While LSG have won all of their three encounters against MI, Harbhajan Singh spoke about how the Chennai Super Kings also had not won a game against the Gujarat Titans until they beat them in Qualifier 1.
On this, he stated:
"While Lucknow has won thrice against Mumbai, even GT has a similar record against Chennai. But beating Chennai in Chennai was always going to be very difficult. Similarly, Mumbai is a big team and knows how to play on the big stage."
Having already lost to Lucknow this season, Mumbai will need to put out an inspirational performance to progress to Qualifier 2.
