Besides being captains for their respective sides, Rohit Sharma and Steve Smith are also the kind of batsmen a team looks up to season after season. Smith hasn’t performed too badly though, averaging above 50 in the five matches he has played so far.
But Sharma’s aggregate score in the six innings he has come out to bat, is a mere 59. With scores of 3, 2, 4, 0, 40 and 5 so far in the season, Mumbai Indians will want their ‘Hitman’ to fire if they want to pose an imposing total against a batting-heavy Rising Pune Supergiant who would hope their captain builds on his starts to help them post formidable totals.
IPL 2017 Mumbai Indians vs Rising Pune Supergiant 28th Match:
Heading into the game, the main question mark for the hosts will be the fitness of Lasith Malinga, who missed the last game for the side while it will be interesting to see if Pune bring back Imran Tahir into the side considering he had an excellent outing in the previous derby.
Pune team, which has won three matches from six games, will be positive as former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni showed the signs to returning in form. The Ranchi stumper smashed an unbeaten 61 off 34 balls to steer the side home in the last over. To overcome a strong team like Mumbai, Pune will have to put up a strong show with both the bat and the ball. The visitors will be expecting skipper Steve Smith, Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane, Manoj Tiwary and Ben Stokes to fire in order to post a good total. Pune’s bowling, always the weak link, must be confident after a much needed victory against Hyderabad.
Despite Rohit Sharma’s poor form, Mumbai will have enough firepower to get to a competitive score. Jos Buttler showed what he was capable of in the game against the Kings XI Punjab, while the Pandya brothers along with Kieron Pollard have provided the much-needed balance down the order.
Teams
Mumbai Indians:
Rohit Sharma (captain), Jasprit Bumrah, Jos Buttler, Shreyas Gopal, Krishnappa Gowtham, Asela Gunaratne, Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell Johnson, Kulwant Khejroliya, Siddhesh Lad, Mitchell McClenaghan, Lasith Malinga, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Parthiv Patel (wicketkeeper), Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Punia, Nitish Rana, Ambati Rayudu, Jitesh Sharma, Karn Sharma, Lendl Simmons, Tim Southee, Jagadeesha Suchith, Saurabh Tiwary, R Vinay Kumar.
Rising Pune Supergiant:
Steve Smith (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Ashok Dinda, Faf du Plessis, Mayank Agarwal, Ankit Sharma, Baba Aparajith, Ankush Bains, Rajat Bhatia, Deepak Chahar, Rahul Chahar, Daniel Christian, Lockie Ferguson, Imran Tahir, Jaskaran Singh, Usman Khawaja, Saurabh Kumar, Ben Stokes, Washington Sundar, Milind Tandon, Manoj Tiwary, Adam Zampa, Jaydev Unadkat, Ishwar Pandey, Rahul Tripathi, Shardul Thakur.
