Preview: Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan and Mumbai look to renew their rivalry in IPL 3

MUMBAI INDIANS VS RAJASTHAN ROYALS

VENUE: BRABOUNE STADIUM, MUMBAI

DATE: 13TH MARCH 2010 (3PM START)

TEAM MUMBAI INDIANS:-

The team will depend heavily on the batting of Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar. The two of them in tandem can blow any bowling attack away. The opening partnership will look to guide the batting of the whole team. The middle order is relatively weak. JP Duminy will be the caretaker; if he comes good it will add a boost to the whole line up.

Abhishek Nayar will also look to add some runs to the team. He might just turn out to be the key player for MI, with his bowling as well as his batting. The team, however, will be without the services of the West Indian big hitter Kieron Pollard in the beginning stages of the tournament. The batting will sorely miss his explosive power. The bowling is strong enough to defend a decent score. Zaheer Khan can tear apart any batting lineup and along with him is Lasith Malinga who is great at bowling in the death overs and restricting the opposition. The spin department will be taken care of by Harbhajan Singh.

TEAM RAJASTHAN ROYALS:-

This team will be happy that the tournament is back on Indian soil. They won IPL 1 here and will probably look to do so again. Headed by their inspirational captain Shane Warne, the side possesses a lot of promising youngsters. The batting will rely upon the likes of Greame Smith, Damien Martyn and Yusuf Pathan. Although the team is deprived of T20 star Ravindra Jadeja’s presence, the bowling of the Royals looks in good shape. The pace attack has a strong attacking option in Shaun Tait who will look to swing and hit the deck with fearsome pace. The other bowlers are a tad unreliable – Munaf Patel and Siddharth Trivedi will hope to bring some consistency to their performances. Shane Warne will be the spearhead of the team and will look to attack with his crafty spin.

PITCH:-

It will be a flat deck but the bowlers will have a role to play. Win the toss and bat first.

KEY PLAYERS:-

MI:- Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, JP Duminy, Lasith Malinga

RR:- Graeme Smith, Yusuf Pathan, Shane Warne, Shaun Tait

SQUADS:-

Rajasthan Royals : Graeme Smith, Swapnil Asnodkar, Damien Martyn, Abhishek Jhunjunwala, Yusuf Pathan, Naman Ojha(w), Dimitri Mascarenhas, Shane Warne(c), Munaf Patel, Siddharth Trivedi, Amit Singh, Shaun Tait, Amit Gajanan Paunikar, Johan Botha, Faiz Fazal, Kamran Khan, Michael Lumb, Morne Morkel, Sumit Narwal, Syed Quadri, Abhishek Raut, Shrikant Wagh, Mahesh Rawat.

Mumbai Indians : Sachin Tendulkar(c), Sanath Jayasuriya, Shikhar Dhawan, Jean-Paul Duminy, Ryan McLaren, Abhishek Nayar, Aditya Tare(w), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Lasith Malinga, Murtaza Ali, Rahul Shukla, Ambati Rayudu, Rajagopal Sathish, Dilhara Fernando, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Dhawal Kulkarni, Chandan Madan, Ishan Malhotra, Graham Napier, Syed Sahabuddin, Saurabh Tiwary.