Erratic Sunrisers Hyderabad look to bounce back against inconsistent Mumbai Indians
Plagued by injuries and poor form, hosts Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to quickly get their act together to bounce back from the twin defeats when they clash with defending champions Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League T20 match, in Hyderabad, on Monday.
The Hyderabad team has been left to deal with the injuries to its crucial players, including Yuvraj Singh, Kane Williamson and Ashish Nehra and lost both their matches against Royal Challenger Bangalore (by 45 runs) and Kolkata Knight Riders (by 8 wickets).
In the absence of the injured players, the poor form of its opener Shikhar Dhawan has been a matter of concern to the Sunrisers Hyderabad, but Eoin Morgan's 43-ball 51-run innings in Saturday's match against Kolkata will come as a big relief for the hosts.
Naman Ojha also fought hard against Kolkata Knight Riders with a useful 37 runs and the wicket-keeper batsman will look to step up the gas on Monday.
Much would depend on Captain David Warner, Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Morgan and new acquisition Deepak Hooda and Ojha who are expected to put a competitive total on the board to make it difficult for the rivals.
Though it missed the services of the seasoned Nehra, Sunrisers have some competent bowlers in Bhuvneshwar Kumar, young Mustafizur Rahman, Karn Sharma, Abhimanyu Mithun and Barinder Sran, who will look to deliver the goods.
Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, have won only one of the three matches they played so far and a win is crucial for the side to put its campaign back on track.
The Mumbai side, which turned around after a string of losses last year, lost to the new IPL team – Rising Pune Super giants – in their campaign opener in Mumbai on April 9.
It, however, came back strongly to post a thumping six-wicket win over Kolkata on April 13 in Kolkata but again suffered a setback on its home ground with another new team – Gujarat Lions, on Saturday night.
Mumbai would look up to Rohit Sharma, who played a captain's knock with an unbeaten 84 against Kolkata Knight Riders, big-hitter Kieron Pollard, New Zealand's Mitchell McClenaghan and new England recruit Jos Butler to make life difficult for the hosts.
The other talented batsmen, including Ambati Rayudu who hails from Hyderabad, Hardik Pandya and Parthiv Patel will also need to come up with a solid show.
The bowling attack, comprising the seasoned Harbhajan Singh, Tim Southee and Jasprit Bumrah, should help the Mumbai's cause.
For Hyderabad, after losing back-to-back matches, a quick turnaround is necessary to make its way in the tournament and coach Tom Moody asserted that his team can bounce back.
"Absolutely, that is exactly the message. There are a few areas we need to address. But as I said, this is two games into the tournament. We need to reflect and learn and build from areas we are falling down.
"But still, I am very positive. We can turn around this quickly. We have seen that in previous seasons, the Mumbai Indians last year," he told reporters.
The Teams (from):
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (C), Parthiv Patel, Hardik Pandya, Jos Buttler, Mitchell McClenaghan, Ambati Rayudu, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh, Jagadeesha Suchith, Tim Southee, Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Gopal, R Vinay Kumar, Corey Anderson, Unmukht Chand, Marchant de Lange, Siddhesh Lad, Kishore Kamath, Krunal Pandya, Kishore Kamath, Deepak Punia,
Nitish Rana, Jitesh Sharma, Nathu Singh, Akshay Wakhare, Lendl Simmons, Lasith Malinga.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (C), Ashish Reddy, Ricky Bhui, Bipul Sharma, Trent Boult, Ben Cutting, Shikar Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Deepak Hooda, Siddarth Kaul, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhimanyu Midtun, Eoin Morgan, Mustafizur Rahman, Ashish Mehra, Naman Ojha, Vijay Shanker, Karn Sharma, Barinder Sran, T Suman, Aditya Tare, Kane Williamson and Yuvraj Singh
Match starts 8 PM
