IPL 2019: Match 9, KXIP vs MI - Why MI can win this match
The 12th edition of the IPL has completed one week. A lot of drama, excitement and engrossing cricket was witnessed by everyone. Controversies took over the actual action on the ground in some games, the 'mankading' by R Ashwin against Jos Buttler and the shocking misjudgment by the umpire S Ravi in the last ball of the RCB versus MI clash that MI won by 6 runs.
Mumbai Indians will be looking to put on a clinical, complete performance as they are set to take on Kings XI Punjab on their home turf. Kings XI Punjab after shifting between Dharamshala, Indore, and Mohali as their home grounds will use Mohali as their home ground for this season.
They will look to iron out some issues in their bowling attack and make Mohali a fortress. Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, have a very settled look to their team with the inclusion of Lasith Malinga making their team look even stronger.
In the first game of the double-header today, KXIP take on MI at Mohali. Here's looking at some reasons as to why MI can win this match.
The skipper Rohit Sharma is back in form
Rohit Sharma's batting form is crucial for MI as once he gets going, the momentum shifts in favor of MI. And the other batsmen around MI also up their game which ensures that MI put on a formidable score on board.
Another aspect to Rohit Sharma's game is that a strong batting performance leads to better captaincy. It was evident in their now controversial win over RCB that he had his plans and strategies in place and executed them almost to perfection.
AB de Villiers almost took the game away from them but no one can control the game once players like Virat Kohli and ABD are in their zone. But overall, Rohit Sharma seems to have a clear picture as to when to use which bowler and MI's fans will hope that the win against RCB will get them on a roll.
Jasprit Bumrah - the best in the business is putting on a show
Jasprit Bumrah is clearly the best in the business currently. Outstanding growth as a bowler in all formats of the game is really pleasing to see. He started off nurturing and fine-tuning his art under the tutorship of Lasith Malinga for Mumbai Indians.
He took those learnings and has become even better than Lasith Malinga now. A whole nation let a collective sigh and were worried when Bumrah went down and held his shoulder after MI's first game. But Bumrah put away all doubts to rest with a performance only he's capable of against RCB.
When the match was swinging in RCB's favor, Rohit threw the ball to Bumrah and he delivered. He pegged Virat Kohli back and dismissed him. That proved to be a game changer as in the end, de Villiers needed some support, which was missing.
Clearly lot of Mumbai Indians success depends on Bumrah and Malinga. It will be really interesting to see how these two face off against KXIP's batting lineup featuring KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, David Miller, Mayank Aggarwal, and Sarfaraz Khan.
A buoyant Yurvraj Singh returns back to Mohali
Yuvraj Singh returns to Mohali, only this time he will be playing for Mumbai Indians against his former franchise KXIIP. A lot of questions were raised when KXIP bought him for a second time last year. They were hoping Yuvi's presence in the team would lift their performance add local flavor to their unit.
Sadly, Yuvraj Singh looked far from his best in VIVO IPL 2018. After a string of failures, he was relegated to the bench. And now, Yuvi returns to Mohali and he would want to make KXIP repent for letting him go.
Yuvraj Singh has rolled back the clock in his two games for MI so far. Some vintage Yuvi shots have really pleased his fans and cricket fans generally as Yuvi on a roll is a treat to watch. Yuvi will have added motivation today considering he faces off against franchise on their home ground.