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Defending champions Mumbai Indians say 'Been there, done that' after 'tough' start in Chennai

The Mumbai Indians have not best of times in the first phase of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League as the defending champions have lost three and won two games out of their five games so far in this season. Discussing the latest loss against the Punjab Kings, the batting coach Robin Singh said that the men in blue were short of runs on the board. He reminded how well the Kings batted in the same surface to win by a big margin of nine wickets as the surface was not so difficult to bat on. He said that the team has failed to adapt and hence could not score 150-160 runs on the board which would have kept them in the game. “We did not get enough runs. I still feel it is not a bad wicket to bat on. You saw how they batted and won the game by 9 wickets. It is just the application that is missing in our batting. If you get 150-160 on this wicket then you are always in the game, that is something we failed to do in the last two games,” Singh said in a video posted by the Mumbai Indians on its Twitter timeline. The Mumbai Indians were to play the first five matches of the 14 matches they are slated to play this season in Chennai before the caravan were to move towards the north of the country in Delhi. Robin Singh said that the team expected the first part of the campaign to be a tougher challenger as the pitches at the MA Chidambaram Stadium were not to be of their liking or as they have been used to playing on. However, Singh added that winning two out of the first five games is not a bad result although they expected to win at least three out of them. He also said that the Chennai leg of the campaign will energise the group in pursuit of adaptation as they will be trying to move on from the losses and begin preparing for the remainder of the tournament. “The Chennai leg, we knew, was going to be a tough leg. The wickets are probably not to our liking or didn’t suit us as what we’re used to. But I think that’s part of the game. We have to adapt, we have to leave this behind. This is only one part of the tournament. We have another three phases, for which I think we just need to pick ourselves up. Winning two games is not that bad. We were probably looking at three wins barest minimum. But we didn’t get there,” Singh added. Like in Chennai, the Mumbai Indians will now play their next five matches at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground in Delhi against the Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders.

IPL 2021 | CSK vs RCB: In clash of the titans, fearless men of Dhoni face undefeated Challengers

With the Indian Premier League finally getting into the competitive mood, the top two teams of the league so far, the Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore square up against each other at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. First of the two battles on a Super Sunday, this promises to be a mouthwatering clash considering the possible match-ups in the contest. While RCB have not tasted defeat this season, MS Dhoni’s men have also won three on the trot after faltering in the first hurdle against the Delhi Capitals. Toughest hurdle for RCB bowlers The batting lineup of the Chennai Super Kings is one of the deepest in the tournament. It has reaped rewards for the men in yellow as well with the team reaching past 180 in a game against Rajasthan Royals, even without a single batsman getting past the individual score of 40 runs. It is this longevity in the lineup that puts fear in the bowling camp because no matter how tight you bowl, the team in yellow, with so much batting reserve in the dressing room is always looking to go gung-ho against you in the game. The RCB bowling has been phenomenal especially at the beginning of the innings with Mohammed Siraj and Kyle Jamieson’s swing and line and length. If that were not enough, then at the death, Harshal Patel has been chipping away with the wickets (he so far has 12 wickets in just four games). Thus the Challengers from Bangalore become a difficult bowling proposition to handle. However as was shown by the Rajasthan Royals, the red and gold have their vulnerabilities with the ball too and an in-form opening duo of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis are more than capable enough to hurt Virat Kohli’s men. With Moeen Ali in the kind of destructive form that he is, followed by some master class from Chinna Thala [Suresh] Raina and Thala Dhoni, RCB bowlers need to put their best foot forward in their toughest ever game so far. No total is big enough for in form RCB The Chennai Super Kings also need to be wary of the fact that they would have a very tough batting lineup for their bowlers to face. If the pitch turns, then it could be an easy way out, but if not, then the likes of Devdutt Padikkal, Glenn Maxwell and of course in form Virat Kohli could mount a lot of runs against a mostly one-dimensional bowling attack of the Super Kings. Even against the likes of Pat Cummins and Andre Russell of the Knight Riders, the CSK bowling was exposed, there is no doubt as to why it can’t be manipulated by the Royal challengers. Thus in the face of such adversity, their magical skipper Dhoni will need to pull out some trick of the back of his hand and create matchups like Deepak Chahar’s swing vs RCB openers, Ravindra Jadeja’s wicket to wicket line to destabilise Maxwell and Lungi Ngidi well-directed bouncers against the Indian batsmen and Moeen Ali. This seems like the only plausible way to counter the RCB batting. Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore: Match Details Match Number- 19 Date and Time: April 25, 2021, 03:30 pm IST, 10:00 am GMT Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Broadcast and Live Stream: Star Sports and Hotstar Pitch Report The Wankhede wicket has shown in various games played at it that it can offer a bit of turn, as would be true for all Indian wickets at this time of the year. The turn gets more pronounced if both the wicket and the ball are dry and a day game presents such a situation. This would be the first day game at the venue, thus predicting how the wicket would behave, is not an easy task. However, bounce can always be trusted at Wankhede and thus an average score of 170 should not be a problem in the first innings if the ball doesn’t turn square. Weather and Toss The weather during the game is going to remain sunny and thus a team winning the toss would go with the best possible option of batting second. It would not only make the wicket better to bat at later on but would also give a definite target for the batters to chase. Team News Chennai Super Kings Dwayne Bravo was rested in the last game as per skipper Dhoni. Now, would he be played or would Lungi Ngidi be trusted with the ball once again is for time to tell. As far as winning combination disturbance is concerned, Dhoni is not known for that, so a no change CSK is a likely outcome as far as team combination is concerned. Strongest XI Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Lungi Ngidi, Deepak Chahar Royal Challengers Bangalore The RCB too look settled for the Mumbai wicket. They brought in Kane Richardson in place of Rajat Patidar, although Daniel Sams with his all-around ability and left-arm pace option seemed more favoured. Will Kohli send back Richardson to get in Sams, would be interesting to see. Strongest XI Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Shahbaz Ahmed, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers (wk), Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Kane Richardson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal Dream XI Predictions / Fantasy XI Suggestions MS Dhoni (wk), Virat Kohli (c), Faf du Plessis (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, Moeen Ali, Glenn Maxwell, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj

IPL 2021: Sanju Samson lauds team spirit for recovering after 10 wicket loss

Rajasthan Royals were brutally beaten by the Royal Challengers Bangalore in their last match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. A 10 wicket loss after having scored 177 is something very difficult to gulp. But RR skipper Sanju Samson feels that his team has recovered from that jolt pretty quickly and is looking forward to their next meeting against Kolkata Knight Riders tonight. “In a long and gruelling tournament like the IPL, it is of primary importance to stay positive–and that’s exactly how we were by the time we got into the team bus. Even before we reached our hotel, some good music had already helped us leave the past behind,” Sanju wrote about the last game in his column for Hindustan Times. The Kerala man stressed the fact that his team is less worried about the Points Table and more about the health and well being of their players. “At this very early stage of the tournament, worrying about our position in the league does not achieve anything. But if you channel that same energy into the health and welfare of your team, it ends up achieving a lot,” he wrote. Talking about his leadership role and how it has affected his game and his behaviour as a team man, the 26-year-old wrote, “I was always a complete team player, but until last year there were enough reasons to stop myself from going up to someone after a loss and giving him advice and taking charge of the dressing room atmosphere.” “All that has changed this year with leadership. My responsibilities have been heightened–towards the players and their mindsets,” he added. He might be struggling in the tournament post his opening game hundred, but Samson believes that ‘Man-management’ during difficult times is key, and he is utilising all the learnings that he has had from his previous captains and coaches and also from Kumar Sangakkara, the current Royals coach to come back strong. “I have learned plenty from previous RR leaders, be it Rahul (Dravid) sir, Steve Smith, Ajinkya Rahane or Paddy Upton. But I am learning more every day from a guy called Sanga, who is yet to lose his poise under pressure. In fact, we all have our dinner at one long table. These are small but important steps that go a long way in trying to improve the bio-bubble experience,” he said. Samson’s Royals now face Kolkata knight Riders in today’s clash at the Wankhede Stadium and the skipper believes that with individual performances (Shivam Dube and Ryan Parag) coming, the team can click together soon as well. “Now I can only hope that these individual performances are soon converted into match-winning performances. Until then, rest assured that we are keeping the faith,” Samson concluded.

It’s a matter of one good game: MI’s Suryakumar hopeful of middle-order bounceback

Mumbai Indians’ middle order has been in the firing line of the critics as in the first five games of the season, they have not been able to put any memorable performance so far. Forget about memorable, the top middle-order batsmen in Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard haven’t even able to put on their personal bests as yet. Suryakumar Yadav, who found form in the last game with a 27 ball 33 believes that it is just a matter of one game before the Mumbai middle order is back to firing all cylinders. “They have been working really hard in the nets, every day, every practice session, it is just a matter of one game, I feel, that we will be coming back into the games,” Surya said in a virtual press conference. The 30-year-old further went on to say that sometimes things might not click as is a feature of any sports, but that doesn’t mean that people are not putting in efforts. “Everyone is trying to take that responsibility in every game, it is just that it is not working, it happens in this sport, but I am sure they will come back really stronger,” he said. Stating that the conditions in Chennai were different and difficult to Mumbai’s strengths, Surya believed that the team will come back strong in the Delhi leg of the league. “Conditions are a little different here, but we are trying to play ourselves on such wickets in the practice. We have faced this situation before and come back really stronger, so I feel we will come back really stronger, we fire in one game and then there is no looking back,” he added. The Mumbai Indians after having completed their Chennai leg would move to Delhi to play their sixth game of the season when they take on Rajasthan Royals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on April 29.