IPL 2017: 5 reasons why Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) can beat Mumbai Indians (MI)
The playoffs of the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League are here and every team is flexing their muscles to come hard and strong at each other. The first contest of the playoffs, in the form of the Qualifier 1, between the Mumbai Indians and the Rising Pune Supergiant promises to be an exhilarating encounter at the Wankhede.
Both Mumbai and Pune have been impressive in their respective campaigns and are deservingly the top two sides in the playoffs. While the Indians will be performing in front of their vociferous home ground in the Maharashtrian derby, Pune are also all set to come all guns blazing.
And we take an insight into the reasons why the Rising Pune Supergiant can humble the Mumbai Indians on their home turf.
#5 Advantage of being underdogs
The tag of favourites is good to have, but with it comes expectations to perform without any hiccups. On the contrary, starting as underdogs might pan out to be a blessing in disguise for a team and can work to their advantage.
RPS will be commencing their fixture against MI as the dark-horses and have the potential of getting the better of Rohit Sharma’s men. Albeit the odds are heavily stacked against Pune for the Qualifier 1, Steven Smith’s warriors have shown time and again that performance on the day is what matters the most.
A case in point would be the Sunrisers Hyderabad. They weren’t rated among the favourites last year to win the title, but they proved every critic wrong as they went on to lift the cup under the leadership of David Warner. Pune may not start with the advantage of having the batting firepower like Mumbai, but they have the skill-set to turn their rivals over as has been shown in their previous two meetings.