Mumbai did not begin
too well in the competition, suffering a narrow, two-run loss at the hands of
the Royal Challengers Bangalore. It was a game that they should have won, after
they looked to be on top at a couple of stages in the game.
Unfortunately for the
Indians, it was a bizarre piece of captaincy that seemingly cost them the game,
with Kieron Pollard not sent to bat until the last over of the game.
The Chennai Super
Kings will be led by MS Dhoni, a captain who understands the nuances of leading
a team in T20 cricket well. On the other, the Mumbai Indians will have a
relatively inexperienced T20 skipper in Ricky Ponting, who despite his
long-term attachment to international captaincy, did not lead too often in this
format.
Chennai will look at
Michael Hussey as their key overseas player in the absence of Faf du Plessis,
who misses out due to injury. Also looking to make it to the side will be
all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, Albie Morkel and one of the overseas quicks.
Where the Super Kings
score over most opponents is their domestic strength - Murali Vijay, Suresh
Raina, Dhoni himself, Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin make for an amazing line-up,
with S Badrinath and one relatively inexperienced batsman in the team to make
up the 11.
Mumbai went into their
first game with a decent-looking side but could do well to re-look at their
order. Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar at the top of the innings would appeal to
the purists, but neither possess the ability to crank it up in this format and
they would do well to have someone like Rohit Sharma or even Dwayne Smith come
up as an opener.
Mitchell Johnson did a
good job with the ball but if Lasith Malinga becomes fit, he could well make
his way out to fit in the Sri Lankan pace bowler.
Interestingly, despite
Chennai Super Kings' solid record over the five seasons of the IPL, they are
5-6 in their head-to-head against the Mumbai Indians.
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