Smith-led Pune face tough opener vs Mumbai Indians
April 06, 2017  19:29
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Welcome to the coverage of the second match of the Indian Premier League between Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiant in Pune on Thursday.

With a new captain in place, Rising Pune Supergiants would look to make amends for a poor last season but have a tough opening battle at hand against two-time former champions Mumbai Indians.

Pune decided to replace Mahendra Singh Dhoni with Steve Smith in the leadership role for the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League.

Under Dhoni, who has only played as skipper in the previous nine editions of the IPL, Pune could win just five matches in their debut season last year.

While Dhoni would be desperate to prove a point with his blazing blade -- a fitting reply for being stripped off captaincy, Smith will look to forget Australia's 1-2 loss against India in a draining Test series recently.

Dhoni might have led the now-defunct team Chennai Super Kings exceedingly well in the past but proving his worth as a player with the new franchise is a challenge that the former India captain will be more than keen to conquer.

However, all eyes would be on Ben Stokes, who was bought for a whopping Rs 14.5 crore, and his performance with both the bat and ball will be equated with his hefty pay package.

Smith and Faf du Plessis both got injured the last time but they would like to make amends in this edition of the cash-rich tournament.

The Supergiants will be banking on Ajinkya Rahane, who scored 480 runs at 43.63 with six fifties in the last edition, to come good with the bat again.
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