What

Mumbai Indians will take on the Delhi Capitals in Match 3 of VIVO IPL 2019. MI are in pursuit of their fourth IPL title, while the team management and fans of Delhi will want to believe that a new name (Delhi Daredevils have been rechristened as Delhi Capitals) will bring them new luck and pave way for their maiden IPL title.

The Mumbai Indians won the IPL tile in 2013, 2015 and 2017, and the owners and fans will want the trend of the team winning the title every alternate year to continue in the coming season. MI have assembled an outstanding side to serve that cause; they’ve retained the bulk of the squad from the last season, and have made some interesting additions in the form of Yuvraj Singh and Lasith Malinga (who incidentally was MI’s bowing mentor last season). The squad is packed with several destructive batsmen and several impact-making all-rounders – so much that the team management will have to take some extremely difficult calls while picking the final XI. MI’s plans for the season received a setback when it emerged that Adam Milne would be unavailable for the season because of a heel injury and Malinga wouldn’t be available for the first six matches.

Delhi Capitals have invested in and backed young and talented cricketers. They’ve retained the likes of Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Avesh Khan, ManjotKalra and Sandeep Lamichhane. The team’s emphasis on youth can also be established from the fact that they went all out at the IPL Player Auction to secure the services of the 20-year old Guyanese batsman Sherfane Rutherford. The owners have given the youngsters the opportunity to look up to and learn from some of the finest brains; there are few better readers of the game than Ricky Ponting (Coach), and the owners have roped in Sourav Gangulyas Advisor. The likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Colin Munro, Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult,Ishant Sharma and Amit Mishra bring the experience component to the team.

When

24 March 2019, 8pm IST

Where

Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Likely XIs:

Mumbai Indians:Evin Lewis, Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Quinton de Kock, Ben Cutting, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Mayank Markande, JaspritBumrah, Mitchell McClenaghan.

Delhi Capitals: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, HanumaVihari, Sherfane Rutherford, Axar Patel, Sandeep Lamichhane, Kagiso Rabada, Harshal Patel, Trent Boult.

Protagonists

The Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma recently announced that he is considering opening the innings for the majority of the season. Rohit is among the most destructive openers in the white ball format – and having caused a lot of damage at the international level, it is only fair that he gets the opportunity to do so in the IPL too.

The Delhi Capitals will want Rohit’s opening partner in the Indian team – Shikhar Dhawan, to do what he did so well for his previous franchise. Shikhar is likely to be the most-experienced player in DC’s line-up, and he will be required to act as the glue that holds a young batting line-up together. Look out for two other left-handers in the DC line-up; Rishabh Pant - the top six-hitter last season, and Sherfane Rutherford can cause plenty of destruction in a little time.

Among the bowlers, MI will want their two pacers – JaspritBumrah and Mitchell McClenaghan – to strike early, allowing the spinners to take control of the middle overs. DC will look towards Kagiso Rabada to strike with the new ball; also keep an eye on Sandeep Lamichhane – the 18-year old wily leg-spinner from Nepal.

Head to Head in Indian Premier League

Matches – 22, MI Won – 11, DC Won – 11

In VIVO IPL 2018, the Delhi Capitals (Delhi Daredevils then) prevailed in both the league stage fixtures. In the first match-up in Mumbai, Jason Roy’s unbeaten 91 (from 53 balls) earned the Capitals their first win of the season. After JaspritBumrah had bowled a fantastic 19^th over, DC needed 11 from the last over. Roy – who survived a caught behind appeal off the penultimate ball of the last over - saw his team home off the last ball of the match.

In the return fixture in Delhi, the hosts posted 174-4 and then bowled out the visitors for 163 to win by 11 runs.

Trivia

Ishan Kishan struck centuries in consecutive matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 competition earlier this season; he scored an unbeaten 100 against Jammu & Kashmir, followed it up with an unbeaten 113 against Manipur, and scored 52 against Nagaland in the following innings.

Rohit Sharma averages 40.86 and has six 50-plus scores in the 19 innings he has opened the batting for the Mumbai Indians. In comparison, he averages 30.79 and has 21 50-plus scores in 105 inningsbatting lower down the order.

Shikhar Dhawan represented the Delhi franchise (Delhi Daredevils then) in the inaugural season of the IPL; he scored 340 runs in 14 innings and was the team’s third-highest run-getter. Since then, he has represented the Mumbai Indians (2009 and 2010), Deccan Chargers (2011 and 2012) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (2013 to 2018).