Mumbai bank on returning Suryakumar Yadav for a change in fortune

Very rarely do you build up to a game between the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Delhi Capitals when both are loitering at the bottom of the table. 

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 hasn’t begun well for these two teams. While MI have issues galore, both internally and externally, DC’s misery lies in their faulty team construction, which has left them either a player short or squandered the execution of their plans. 

Still, DC managed to win one game courtesy of some brilliant death overs bowling from their pacers. MI are still to open their account this season, and are in the 10th position on the points table. 

Suryakumar Yadav's return will bolster MI’s squad. He battled through an ankle injury and a sports hernia to finally make it to his IPL side. Meanwhile, DC’s squad strength will be a bit depleted as Mitchell Marsh’s participation is in jeopardy due to an injury, along with Kuldeep Yadav, who is facing some groin issues. 

It would be interesting to see if Suryakumar’s inclusion will give MI enough batting boost to change their fortunes this season. 

MI vs DC Head-to-Head 

Overall: Matches 33 | MI 18 | DC 15 

At Wankhede: Matches 9 | MI 6 | DC 3 

Venue details and weather conditions 

All of Wankhede's records point towards the fact that winning the toss and bowling first has been the go-to modus operandi for skippers here, as teams batting second have won six out of eight games played since IPL 2023. 

If you look at the scoring pattern, it’s a haven for batters. Since IPL 2023, the average winning total here is 216/7, indicating that big totals have been the norm here. 

Meanwhile, since the pitch here suits the pacers (they have taken 60% of the wickets to fall), DC’s group of in-form speedsters in Mukesh Kumar, Ishant Sharma, and Khaleel Ahmed would be raring to go. MI also have Jasprit Bumrah, who’ll be a handful to deal here as he showed in the last game. 

As for the weather, no rains are expected, but sixes and fours might rain like cats and dogs tomorrow at the Wankhede. 

Things to Watch out for 

Can SKY’s return bring back Mumbai Indians' mojo? 

To say that MI’s batting is struggling would be underplaying the severity of the situation. They have the lowest average runs per wicket in the tournament and the third-lowest run rate. So not only are they not scoring runs, but whatever they manage to get is coming at a trundling pace. 

For a batter of Suryakumar’s class and reputation, that’s an unbelievable situation to be in, as not only does he have a strike of 171 since 2022 in T20s, but he’s also averaging 45.8. So he is scoring runs consistently and scoring them faster than any other Indian in the format. 

Moreover, since IPL 2023, he has been especially belligerent against pacers, striking at 213 against them. DC have an entire procession of them that he can feast on tomorrow. And boy, MI need him to do that so badly! 

Anrich Nortje needs to step up for Delhi 

After a fabulous IPL 2020 and 2021 for the Capitals, where he saw his team reach the finals in 2020 and finish on the top of the table in 2021, the Proteas tearaway quick has taken a nosedive into mediocrity. 

He has only played 19 out of 42 possible matches since then and has taken only 23 wickets at an economy rate of 9.8. That’s the second-worst economy for a bowler in since 2022. 

This clear distinction between his record when the IPL was in UAE (2020 & 2021) and when it happened in India (2022 & 2023), has raised serious questions over his ability to perform for the Capitals, who desperately need their strike pacer to start striking.  

On a Wankhede pitch that has always aided pacers at the start of the innings, Nortje would hope that his fortunes take a turn for the good. 

Probable XIs

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Dewald Brevis, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Tim David, Piyush Chawla, Gerald Coetzee, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Madhwal, Kwena Maphaka (impact substitute)

Delhi Capitals: David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Abhishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Rasikh Salam, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed (impact substitute). 

TV and streaming details 

You can watch the game live from 3:30 PM on Star Sports (TV) and Jio Cinema (Streaming).