Mumbai Indians take on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in match 8 of IPL 2024 on Wednesday, March 27. The match starts at 7.30 pm IST at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. MI lost their season opener against Gujarat Titans.
Mumbai Indians led by their new captain Hardik Pandya failed to chase down 160 in 20 overs after they needed 40-odd in the last five overs. Hardik batted at number seven in the batting order and had a chance to finish the game against Umesh Yadav. However, he failed to deliver and coped with a lot of criticism.
Several of his decisions as captain were questioned. He decided to open the bowling himself despite the presence of Jasprit Bumrah in the XI and was expensive. His calls with his bowling changes were questioned as well.
Differences between Hardik and Rohit were definitely on the show as he asked the Indian skipper to a field near the boundary line. MI started with another loss in their campaign opener, their 12th on the trot since 2013.
They will be playing their second game on the trot against SRH in Hyderabad which is a high-scoring venue. They failed to chase down a modest total of 169 against GT and now will face the challenge against SRH.
Suryakuma Yadav did not play the first game against Gujarat Titans and his participation for the second game is still not clear. He was denied the NOC by the NCA medical team and in all likelihood will miss MI’s second game as well.
Also Read: Kieron Pollard ditches Rohit Sharma to support Hardik Pandya despite leadership blunders
Mumbai Indians Playing 11 vs SRH- IPL 2024, Match 8
Rohit Sharma
Rohit opened the batting against Mumbai Indians and scored 43 off 29 balls and looked in good touch. He needs to have a big season for Mumbai Indians to win the title.
Ishan Kishan (WK)
Kishan was out for a duck. He was recently axed from BCCI central contract list and needs to have a big season to make a case for a comeback. The southpaw has been MI’s top run-getters in the last few years.
Naman Dhir
Haryana batter Naman Dhir scored 20 in his first IPL game for MI. In the absence of SKY, he might also retain his place in the side.
Tilak Varma
Tilak will bat at four. He scored 25 off 19 balls and was dismissed in the 19th over of the innings as he failed to take his side home. He is a key player for MI in the middle-order.
Hardik Pandya (C)
Hardik the skipper should ideally bat at five. He should promote himself at that number and take charge of finishing the game. He bowled three overs for 30 runs against GT.
Tim David
David will slot in at six. He struggled in his innings and especially against the GT spinners. He perished in the 19th over looking to hit out Mohit Sharma. David is Kieron Pollard’s replacement for Mumbai Indians.
Gerald Coetzee
The South African pacer will slot in at eight. He had a good debut as he picked 2 for 27 on his IP debut for Mumbai Indians. He will be key going forward for Mumbai Indians.
Piyush Chawla
Chawla the evergreen spinner will bat at nine. He had a brilliant IPL 2023 when he took 22 wickets for Mumbai Indians last year. He will be the trump card for MI this year as well.
Jasprit Bumrah
Bumrah will bat at ten. He bowled a spell of 3 for 14 in the four overs against GT. Surprisingly, Hardik did not start with him and brought him in the fourth over of the GT innings.
Shams Mulani
Mulani might be the second spinner for Mumbai Indians. The left-arm spinner was retained and made his IPL debut in the last match against GT. He bowled a spell of none for 24. He plays for Mumbai in domestic cricket and was part of the recent Ranji Trophy-winning team.
Luke Wood
Wood will conclude the likely Mumbai Indians XI for their match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. He made his IPL debut in the last game after being named as a replacement for Jason Beherandorff.
Impact Sub- Dewald Brevis
MI played with only three overseas players in the first game and used Dewald Brevis as their Impact Sub. With SKY likely to miss another game, they might stick to this ploy and strengthen their batting unit. He scored a brilliant 46 off 38 with the bat and took his team close to victory.
Also Read: Hardik Pandya was extremely poor as captain vs GT? Wasim Jaffer drops blunt verdict
