“It is like Manchester United playing Liverpool” - Moeen Ali on MI vs CSK rivalry
Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) all-rounder Moeen Ali has compared battles between his team and Mumbai Indians (MI) in the IPL to the legendary football rivalry between Manchester United and Liverpool. He termed an MI-CSK match as one of the biggest for a cricketer outside of international cricket.
Mumbai and Chennai will resume their iconic rivalry when they face off at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in the evening game of the doubleheader on Saturday, April 8.
While CSK have won one and lost one of the two games they have played so far, MI began their IPL 2023 campaign with an eight-wicket loss to RCB.
At a press conference ahead of Saturday’s big clash, Moeen spoke about the MI-CSK rivalry:
"This is a game I really look forward to. These are the two most successful franchises and the fan-following is huge and this is one of the biggest games you can play as a cricketer outside of international cricket. In football's point of view it is like Manchester United playing Liverpool. These are huge games.”
The England all-rounder also backed pace bowler Deepak Chahar, who struggled in the franchise’s first two games. Speaking about him, Moeen commented:
"I think the only thing he is lacking is game time. He had a bad injury and is coming back after a long time. Unless you can bowl in a proper game which you need as a bowler, he will get better as the tournament goes on.
"He is a big bowler for us and when he gets it right he gets three or four wickets in the powerplay.”
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Chahar registered figures of 0/29 against Gujarat Titans (GT) and 0/55 versus Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
“It's just another game” - Kieron Pollard on MI vs CSK clash
While there is huge excitement among fans for Saturday’s mega clash, MI batting coach Kieron Pollard described it as just another game. Downplaying the hype, he commented:
"It's just another game. Obviously, it's a big game, we call it El Clasico of the IPL, Mumbai vs Chennai, and a lot of expectations are thrust upon this match in terms of who's going to come out on top.”
According to Pollard, it will be important for players to stick to their plans, whether with the bat or the ball. He added:
"It's about keeping calm, watching that white Kookaburra when you're batting, and when you're bowling, just trying to keep it in the right areas, continuing to go about the plans that have been set to dominate the opposition."
On former West Indies teammate Dwayne Bravo being in the opposite camp, also as a coach, he added:
"I look forward to my batters coming up against DJ (Bravo, the CSK bowling coach) and his bowlers, and hopefully we can see how that goes, and who can be singing at the end of it - or who will be singing, and who will be crying."
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In their opening IPL 2023 match against RCB, MI posted 171/7 batting first. Bangalore gunned down the target in 16.2 overs.