Never a good sight to look back at

Mumbai: They have been part of some thrillers this season. Both have been used sparingly so far – Jordan with just the one outing, and Hales yet to get a go – but now could be the time, with Sunrisers coming into this one off the back of two defeats. Can these teams overcome their weaknesses before they clash on Tuesday?

Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Suryakumar Yadav, Evin Lewis, Ishan Kishan (w), Rohit Sharma (c), Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Mitchell McClenaghan, Mayank Markande, Jasprit Bumrah, Mustafizur Rahman. It was Mumbai’s fifth defeat in six matches and they remained seventh in the table, just above Delhi.

Earlier in the first innings, put in to bat, the Sunrisers failed to recover from the awful start, of being reduced to 46/4 inside the powerplay, with Shikhar Dhawan (5), Wriddhiman Saha (0), Manish Pandey (16) and Shakib (2) all back in the hut inside the first six overs.

To the delight of the Sunrisers dugout, their bowlers provided another proof why they are rated as the best attack in the tournament.

Similarly, Rashid Khan has had a couple of poor games and that is what makes this match exciting. Dhawan was instrumental in their first two games, but he leaves a huge gap at the top which Ricky Bhui simply can not fill. If Bhuvi is unfit, expect an Indian seamer, someone like a Sandeep Sharma to feature in the game. However, replacing Dhawan will call for some tinkering.

For Mumbai, it will be interesting to see where Rohit bats.

With one win in six games, it’s a long road ahead for Mumbai and the path looks very steep.

In the bowling department, young Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur have been impressive with each bagging six wickets from five and four games respectively. Yusuf Pathan tried his best but couldn’t accumulate runs as he would’ve liked. It speaks volumes of the dynamism of the IPL and the transience of fortune in cricket.

Right from restaurants to clubs, all of these places are also under the IPL fever making it all the more interesting for the outgoers.

Surya- Has been batting brilliantly. MI’s campaign has been led from the front by local product Suryakumar Yadav who has been the top batsman with a consistent run of good scores in the opening slot which has left him four short of reaching the 200 mark for the season. But his stay ended on a soft note as he came out to hit Hardik but couldn’t get the elevation to beat MI captain Rohit in the covers. This was interestingly the lowest total in this IPL.

Mumbai Indians all-rounder Krunal Pandya has struck at 197.1 against leg-spinners and has lost his wicket only once in 10 innings. It was also the second lowest target successfully defended ever in the history of IPL.

Mumbai will once again be bitterly disappointed after another loss, this time at the hands of the wildly inconsistent Rajasthan Royals.

Mumbai win. Mumbai’s bowling and their versatility give them a slight edge. Our batters let us down again.