Picking a combined MI-DC playing 11 for IPL 2024 ft. Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant
Mumbai Indians (MI) will host Delhi Capitals (DC) in the 20th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday, April 7.
Mumbai Indians are yet to win a match this season, as they have lost all three games under their new captain, Hardik Pandya. MI are known to be slow starters, but the pressure from fans has been very high, and now a defeat could lead to more disaster for them. However, amid all this chaos, MI has some good news: Suryakumar Yadav has been declared fit and will be available for their match against the Delhi Capitals.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Capitals are also struggling, having won only one of four matches. DC was boosted by the return of Rishabh Pant this season, who seems to be finding his form. Pant is coming into this match after scoring two consecutive half-centuries; however, he will aim to change his team’s fate. DC will be looking to put up a decent performance against MI and get two important points.
Both MI and DC have some big names in their squads who can win games on any given day. On that note, we have selected a combined Mumbai-Delhi playing 11 ahead of their match on Sunday.
Openers: Rohit Sharma and David Warner
David Warner will partner up with Rohit Sharma in the combined playing 11. Mumbai Indians’ former captain Rohit Sharma didn’t have a good outing against RR when he got out on a golden duck.
However, Rohit provided a good start in the first two games; he scored 43 runs against the Gujarat Titans and gave a flying start against SRH, scoring 26 off 12 runs. Rohit Sharma has shown his class in all these years and remains an automatic choice for any team.
Rohit will have his opening partner in the form of David Warner. The Delhi batter has scored 148 runs in four matches, including fifty against CSK. It is just a matter of time before David Warner scores a big inning in the tournament; he has shown some good signs and will be looking to win some matches for his franchise.
Middle Order/All-rounders: Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel
Mumbai Indians will be high on confidence coming into the match against Delhi, with the arrival of Suryakumar Yadav, who was sidelined in the first three matches due to an injury. SKY is the No. 1 ranked batter in the T20Is ranking and will be looking to change the fortunes of his franchise.
The Indian batter was in fantastic form last year, where he scored 605 runs in 16 matches. SKY scored at a strike rate of 181.1 and had five fifties and a century to his name.
After being out of action for more than 15 months following a horrific accident in December 2022, the entire world was eager to see Rishabh Pant. After struggling in two matches, Pant has shown very good signs for his franchise. The Delhi batter has scored two consecutive fifties.
Mumbai Indians batter Tilak Varma will walk in at no. 5 in the combined MI-DC playing 11. Tilak has looked good in the first three matches; the younger batter has scored 121 runs, which includes a fifty against SRH.
Tilak also played a crucial knock of 32 runs against Rajasthan Royals when Mumbai lost three early wickets. The southpaw has shown great composure, looks eager to take more responsibility, and will be a player to watch out for as the season progresses.
Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel will be the two all-rounders in our combined playing 11. Hardik hasn’t had a great start as a player and captain; however, it won’t take much time before the explosive batter comes into the party. The all-rounder will be looking to turn things in his favor and guide MI to their first victory of the season against DC.
The Delhi all-rounder Axar Patel has only taken two wickets in four games, but he has bowled at decent lines with an economy of 7.0. As the tournament goes on, he will be eager to contribute more with the bat and the ball.
Bowlers: Gerald Coetzee, Jasprit Bumrah, Anrich Nortje, and Kuldeep Yadav
Mumbai Indians’ Gerald Coetzee is playing in his first IPL. The right-arm pacer has picked up three wickets in the same number of matches. Coetzee is slowly and steadily coming into the groove and will be looking to have memorable performances to his name.
Jasprit Bumrah is arguably the best bowler in the world across all formats. The Indian pace sensation has picked up three wickets in three matches. Bumrah has a very impressive economy of 6.3, even after bowling 12 overs. The MI pacer is a go-to player for any team and will be looking to contribute more in the coming matches.
Anrich Nortje has been the leading pacer for the Delhi Capitals for some time now. Nortje has picked up four wickets in three matches; however, he has conceded runs at an economy of 12.5. This is something the Delhi pacer will be looking to improve. The Proteas pacers have a very good yorker and bouncer and can perfectly complement Jasprit Bumrah and Gerald Coetzee in the combined MI-DC playing 11.
Kuldeep Yadav is perhaps one of the most improved spinners. The left-arm wrist spinner has performed brilliantly for India in recent times. Kuldeep took three wickets in the first two matches; however, he has missed the next two due to injury, and DC will be eager to get him back in the playing 11 as soon as possible. Kuldeep Yadav is someone who can change matches in the middle over, and he remains an integral part of our MI-DC combined playing 11.