3 things Mumbai Indians need to get right in order to beat Gujarat Titans in IPL 2023
The Indian Premier League is back in full swing as the weekend approaches. One of the most anticipated matches is the one between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans. Mumbai Indians are on a roll after having won their last four matches. They take on Gujarat Titans, who are a side in form and leading the points table.
Mumbai Indians have chased like a team in hot form and they would hope their luck continues with the toss. Suryakumar Yadav is back to his best, Ishan Kishan looks free as an opener and Nehal Wadhera has been a great addition in the middle order.
There are a few issues to be addressed in this game if Mumbai Indians are to challenge Gujarat Titans. Here we take a look at three things Mumbai Indians need to get right to beat Gujarat Titans:
#3 Rohit Sharma has to fire
For all their might with the bat, captain Rohit Sharma has hit a rut. He does not look like himself and Mumbai need their captain to step up. Gujarat Titans have a solid bowling attack and Rohit has to take it upon himself to ward off this threat. Rashid Khan and Mohammed Shami will pose a lot of challenges but Rohit has the skillsets to tackle both these bowlers.
In the last match between the two sides, early wickets pushed Mumbai back and they could never recover. This is where Rohit needs to step up and ensure that they are relatively unscathed in the first six overs. With Tilak Varma fit for this game, if Rohit lays a platform, Mumbai’s power-packed middle and lower order can climb all over Gujarat Titans.
#2 Early wickets with the new ball
Jason Behrendorff struck with the new ball in the last match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai need to repeat this dose against Gujarat. The defending champions have power-hitters all the way through and the one definite way to contain them is by regularly picking up wickets.
It will be interesting to see if Mumbai go for Arjun Tendulkar since Gujarat have a plethora of right-handers in the top order. In Piyush Chawla, they have a wily customer to take charge in the middle order, but for him to have any impact, MI have to strike early and regularly with the new ball.
#1 Death overs
Chris Jordan has replaced Jofra Archer and is Mumbai Indians’ designated bowler in the death overs. However, he has never quite had any impact in the IPL in the final few overs and leaked plenty of runs in his first match of the season.
Wankhede Stadium is a tough ground to be a bowler, but Jordan has enough experience to take up the mantle and minimize the damage. Mumbai have been the worst side in the final four overs this season and they have to be better in this match. Gujarat have powerful finishers and if Mumbai err, they can pay a hefty price in the final few overs.