Match 2: Rising Pune Supergiant vs Mumbai Indians
Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune (Capacity: 37,000)
6th April 2017
8:00pm IST
Pune is to Mumbai what David Hussey is to Michael Hussey: younger and not quite as famous. Ask anyone in Mumbai if they’d ever consider moving to Pune and you’ll be met with incredulous gasps, complete apathy and a general moaning about the lack of things to do in the 2nd tier city. The Supergiant are a different proposition. That’s right. Not Supergiants, but Supergiant. The similarities end at the fact that both the team and the city are new to the big boy’s table.
Pune is packing packing a lineup that could be the strongest in the IPL, and boast not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 international current and former test captains in their starting X!, and the Indian and English test vice-captains. Complete with mints and brain-fades, the Supergiant is just that, a Goliath. The stage is set for a rumble for the ages between the ever-fluctuating Mumbai Indians, who themselves are no easy challenge and the Supergiant to battle it out on a flat Pune deck. Both teams are trying to prove that they will not be resigned to middle order complacency this IPL and will be ready to put up a fight. Expect the crowd to be highly partisan, given the proximity between the two cities, and a raucous full house will add to the heat of the contest.
Team News:
Pune is without star Indian finger-spinner R Ashwin, who is out with a sports hernia, and Mitchell Marsh, the Australian bowling allrounder. They are under new leadership, after MS Dhoni was relieved of his duties and the honours were given to Steve Smith. Given his brilliant stewardship at this venue during the recently concluded India Australia series, it will be interesting to see whether his good form with blazer on and bat in hand will continue. The Supergiant boast a gifted and experienced, albeit ‘test-match’ top order consisting of Mayank Agarwal, who has been in fine domestic form since he was released by the Daredevils last year, Ajinkya Rahane, who is coming off a mixed test series with the bat, Faf Du Plessis, who has been in excellent form in the last few months and Steve Smith, whose Bradman-esque performances off late have turned several heads. He is followed by the effervescent Ben Stokes, whose 14 crore selling price makes him of keen interest to all viewers. MS Dhoni and Rajat Bhatia form a firm lower middle order. The Indian bowling lineup looks particularly weak without Ashwin, and Pune will rest their hopes on their overseas legspinners: Imran Tahir and Adam Zampa as well as Ashok Dinda and Ben Stokes to spearhead an Indian bowling contingent consisting of: Ankit Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat and Rajat Bhatia.
Mumbai looks the weaker of the two sides, as their key players are worryingly out of form. Rohit Sharma has been injured for months, while Ambati Rayadu and Parthiv Patel have lost favour with the national selectors. Kieron Pollard has been particularly dismal with both ball and bat in recent times with a shocking dip in both strike rate and runs. Lasith Malinga is on national duty, while Jos Buttler has been out of form as well in England’s two most recent series’. Mumbai, however, will have high hopes pinned on Jasprit Bumrah, who gained national recognition through the IPL and has consistently performed for both India and the Mumbai Indians. Their recent signing in Mitch Johnson, too, will be an interesting prospect for Mumbai. The Pandya brothers, as well as Harbhajan Singh round out a fairly solid lower middle order that performed well in patches for Mumbai in 2016 and despite some mixed success domestically, Mumbai would expect both runs and wickets from the trio. Overall, Mumbai’s only chance of winning is to score heavily and rely on their expert death bowling to win them the game, as it has in the past.
Pitch and Weather Report:
Despite a slightly (read: hugely) incorrect reading from the curator of the MCA Stadium the last time we were here, the limited overs’ pitches in Pune can be expected to be a lot more predictable, especially at the beginning of the season. Hot temperatures would have baked the surface, and while it will retain some bounce, it will largely be a batting paradise. Rain is not expected, and temperatures will soar to the high thirties.
Teams (probable):
| Rising Pune Supergiant | Mumbai Indians |
| Ajinkya Rahane | Rohit Sharma (c) |
| Mayank Agarwal | Parthiv Patel |
| Faf Du Plessis | Ambati Rayadu |
| Steve Smith (c) | Jos Buttler (wk) |
| MS Dhoni (wk) | Kieron Pollard |
| Ben Stokes | Hardik Pandya |
| Rajat Bhatia | Krunal Pandya |
| Shardul Thakur | Harbhajan Singh |
| Adam Zampa | Mitchell Johnson |
| Ankit Sharma | Mitchell McClenaghan |
| Ashok Dinda | Jasprit Bumrah |
Match Prediction:
It’s expected that the Pune Supergiants will show their batting prowess and rack up a monumental total, either batting first or chasing. However, it’s their weak pace line-up that could be the chink in their armor. All in all, it is felt that whichever team is chasing has the better odds of winnings, but from the outset, my money would be on the Supergiant.
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Vedant Jain is a contributor for CricMetric. For any queries, comments or information, email vedantja@usc.edu