Hardik Pandya-led Mumbai Indians will be eager to record their first win in the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League as they cross swords with Rishabh Pant’s Delhi Capitals. The two teams are scheduled to play against each other in the 20th tournament match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday, 3:30 pm onwards
The five-time IPL Champions has struggled in all facets of the game this season in both away and home games. It would be important for Hardik Pandya’s men to break the curse to stay relevant in the league and continue their chances of making it to the top four.
Delhi Capitals are also sailing in a similar boat with three losses, but they have an edge with one victory against Chennai Super Kings.
What has happened so far?
Mumbai Indians haven’t shown much of a character this season and as a result, they are reeling at the bottom of the points table with three consecutive losses to their name. The Mumbai-based franchise kick-started the season with a poor performance with the bat as the team failed to chase a decent score of 169 runs against Gujarat Titans.
It was followed by a disappointing performance by the bowling unit as Sunrisers Hyderabad smacked a historic 277 runs and MI lost their second game by 31 runs. Their most recent game against Rajasthan Royals again saw a collapse of the batting unit as the team’s score at the end of 20 overs read 125 runs for nine wickets. Despite the home advantage for Mumbai, it was an easy score for Sanju Samson’s side to chase and they achieved a victory within 16 overs.
Delhi Capitals have also struggled in IPL 2024 so far as they are placed ninth place in the league standings with two points. The team suffered two consecutive losses against Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals in their first two games.
They finally managed to end their losing streak with an impressive victory against Chennai Super Kings by 20 runs. However, the joy was short-lived for the franchise as they recorded a big 106-run defeat at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders in their recent encounter.
Head to Head Record
Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals have played 33 games against each other since the inception of the Indian Premier League in 2008. Mumbai Indians enjoy a slight edge in the head-to-head record with 18 victories while the Capitals have won the remaining 15 games.
Key Players
Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians): No player for the Mumbai Indians’ camp has delivered a praise-worthy performance in the tournament so far. However, Rohit Sharma has shown good signs with the bat in the three matches.
It was a good start for the IPL-winning captain in the match against Gujarat Titans as he smacked 43 runs off just 29 balls. He got off to a fiery start in the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad as well, while chasing a massive score of 278 runs. However, Rohit was dismissed at a score of 26 runs off 12 balls by Pat Cummins.
Meanwhile, it was an underwhelming performance by the former captain in the last game against Rajasthan Royals as he recorded his 17th duck to top the list of most ducks in IPL history alongside Dinesh Karthik. Despite the dip, Sharma is likely to bounce back and dish out a match-winning performance for Mumbai.
Rishabh Pant (Delhi Capitals): Coming from an injury, Rishabh Pant has been successful in setting the T20 league ablaze with his fours and sixes. After a lukewarm performance in the first two matches, fans finally got a glimpse of vintage Pant against Chennai Super Kings as he hammered 51 runs off 35 balls.
Rishabh Pant is the top-scorer for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2024
The captain dished out an even better performance against the Kolkata Knight Riders as the team was chasing the big score of 273 runs. While most DC batters fell flat, Rishabh impressed the cricket fraternity with his knock of 55 runs off just 25 balls. The odds are in the favor of batter to score a hat-trick of half-centuries on Sunday.
Team News from Both Camps
Mumbai Indians finally have some good news as Suryakumar Yadav has received clearance from NCA and will join the MI camp on Friday. The No.1-ranked T20I batter has been out of action for over three months now as the batter sustained an ankle injury in a match against South Africa and later underwent an operation for sports hernia as well.
On the other hand, there is no update on the injury of Kuldeep Yadav and Mukesh Kumar and they are likely to be ruled out of the Sunday match.
Predicted XIs
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya ©, Tim David, Shams Mulani, Piyush Chawla, Nuwan Thushara, Jasprit Bumrah, Luke Wood
Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant © (wk), Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Lalit Yadav, Rasikh Salam Dar, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed
Prediction
Both Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians have underperformed this season with three losses each to their name. Thus, both sides are expected to be low on confidence on Sunday.
However, the chances of Delhi Capitals scoring a victory are high, as unlike MI, they cracked the code of winning in one game by defeating Chennai Super Kings. Despite the home conditions, the hosts will start the game as the underdogs.