TACTICAL PREVIEW
Follow UsThe match between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals on Sunday will mark the 1000th game of the Indian Premier League history - a tournament that has provided a new meaning to the sport and transformed it in a way no one had ever expected. The 999 games that preceded this encounter have had a storied history of making things a spectacle worth every penny, but when Rohit Sharma and Sanju Samson - leading two contrastingly opposite sides - will walk out for the toss at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday, we will have a lowdown of how team evolutions really have its marker.
The auction dynamics are definitely the biggest of them all. Such is the nature of mega auctions that a few blunders could disrupt your momentum throughout the cycle. In 2022, when Mumbai Indians managed to pull together a line-up that had the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Jasprit Bumrah, and Jofra Archer, it seemed like another seminal moment in their glorious history, but as hindsight has it now, the lack of back-ups have created a far even situation.
On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals played under the radar in the auction and put together a squad of utility performers to revolve around Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson. It not only provided them with a combination that made it to the finals last year but also seemed primed to finish at the top of the table this year as well. The Royals have never looked more settled and confident in their approach than they have in the last two years. That says a lot.
Things to watch out for
The Boult vs Rohit battle
That Rohit Sharma struggles against left-arm pacers is not news anymore. Trent Boult would be licking his lips at the prospect of bowling to the Mumbai skipper in the powerplay. Boult has been exceptional in the first overs of every match he has bowled, averaging 2.5 with an economy rate of 2.5 this IPL. With a strike rate of 6, you could figure out the threat that he has imparted this season, and Rohit will certainly be wary of that.
For perspective, Rohit Sharma has struggled while facing left-arm pacers in the IPL, averaging 23.8 against the bowling type. Almost 50% of Rohit’s dismissals against LAP have come on a length delivery, between the 6-8 meter marks, and Boult has been exceptional in that length. How Rohit devises his plan to tackle that tactic against Boult will be the key to his success on Sunday.
Can Samson show some consistency?
While Rajasthan Royals have their batters to thank for providing them with a great base to deal with, their captain Sanju Samson has lagged behind with inconsistent returns. Despite having scored two half-centuries, Samson has only 198 runs from eight matches at an average of 24.75 but with a really good strike rate of 151.14.
While Rajasthan Royals have won all four encounters in which they have batted first, Sanju averages just 18 in those games, which is the lowest average for a batter with more than 50 runs in the first innings. But given he has scored over 500 runs against Mumbai Indians in the IPL and has a strike rate of 142, he could draw inspiration from it to level things up at the Wankhede.
Further, Samson has been an excellent batter against spin bowlers, having the second-highest strike rate among players who have scored a minimum of 100 runs against spinners this season. But the concerning factor is that he has hit the spinners when the ball has come into the stumps or has gone wide of the off stump but has not managed to play the same way when delivered just outside the off stump.
Green stepping up - a boon for Mumbai
After squandering the last two games, Mumbai Indians are back in the bottom half of the table, finding themselves in the same boat as Kolkata, Delhi, and Hyderabad. With their foreign superstars not stepping up to the plate, things seemed rather innocuous for Mumbai but with Cameron Green stepping up after crossing the 30-run mark in each of the last three matches, along with two consecutive fifties, they have some concerns eased up.
The batter has been much more aggressive against pace than spin in the IPL 2023, even though he has been dismissed by both bowling types twice. Mumbai aggressively bid for Green because of his big-hitting skills, and he has validated that with a free-flowing scoring approach through off-side and leg sides. His nine sixes in IPL 2023 have all been in front, ranging from deep mid-wicket region to long off.
That has duly resulted in Mumbai being one of the most explosive middle-order batting sides in the competition, with the second-highest run rate amongst all teams’ middle-order batting and the second-best balls per boundary ratio. In Sunday's encounter, his form will be the key to how Mumbai take their bogey team Royals.
Ground Details
The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai has been a batting paradise for years now, with the chasing sides having a dominant position. This season, the teams have preferred to bowl first in all three games, out of which two games have been won by chasing teams. The average first-innings score at this venue in IPL 2023 is 185, while the average first-innings winning score has been 214.
However, pacers and spinners have had an equal impact in terms of wickets. While pacers have been very expensive, spinners have a moderate economy.
Mumbai Indians have a win percentage of 60.8% at this venue in the IPL, with 45 wins in 74 matches. Rajasthan Royals have a 50% win percentage, winning nine and losing nine games each. A total of 1398 sixes have been hit here in the IPL, which is the most at a venue in the IPL.
Tactical Nous
> While Ishan Kishan was impressive against pacers in IPL 2020 and IPL 2021, his performance against them took a hit in IPL 2022. However, he’s back to his best against pace this season, having an SR close to 150 against pacers in IPL 2023. Even though he has three dismissals each against pace and spin this season, Ishan Kishan has struggled to score freely against the spinners, despite attacking them a bit more than pacers. Hence, the Royals would want to strangle him by pushing Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin upfront.
> Rohit Sharma has not had good times against Sandeep Sharma, as he has been dismissed four times in 11 innings. He has an average of 9.3 which is his lowest against a bowler in T20s. If Sandeep Sharma and Trent Boult share the new ball, that would be a problem for Rohit Sharma.
Probable XIs
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Kumar Kartikeya, Arjun Tendulkar, Riley Meredith, Piyush Chawla, Jason Behrendorff
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jason Holder, Adam Zampa / Trent Boult, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal
