The finalists of the last edition, both Mumbai Indians (MI) and Delhi Capitals (DC) have taken the early initiative this season and climbed to the top half of the points table and are just behind Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), who sit at the top.

While DC are second, MI are third, making Tuesday’s clash a very interesting one.

Both teams are full of power-packed players with great batting depth. They are also well-matched in their bowling attack, possessing world-class bowlers. While both teams have lost one match each out of the three they have played, MI have managed to hang on despite their famed power-packed middle order not doing well.

Their battle with DC’s India off-spinner R Ashwin will be the one to watch out for. Ashwin’s tight bowling had helped DC keep Punjab Kings under 200 in Sunday’s match which DC overhauled easily.

While the action in the middle overs between Ashwin and Mumbai Indians batting could be the highlight of Tuesday’s match, it will also be interesting to see two quality spinners battle out against each other. The experienced Ashwin has bowled reasonably well without doing anything spectacular. Mumbai Indians leg-spinner Rahul

Chahar has been among wickets and helped MI win both their previous two matches.

Chahar took four wickets against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and then took three wickets against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) to help his team win despite having put up below-par totals.

We are nursing Hardik’s shoulder, says Mahela: Hardik Pandya, who hasn’t bowled at all in the first three matches of Mumbai Indians, could be bowling in this Indian Premier League, said Mahela Jayawardene, the head coach of Mumbai Indians.

“We were looking forward to seeing him bowl in IPL this season. He bowled a few overs in the England series and has got a niggle. We want him to be in a position to come and bowl. We might see him bowling later in the tournament. We should be able to utilise that (bowling) asset as well,” said Jayawardene while speaking to the media on Monday.

Pandya had been struggling with a back injury before the niggle in shoulder. He didn’t bowl in the last edition of the IPL in UAE in 2020. He then travelled to Australia with the Indian limited overs team and played only as a batsman.

Although he expressed a desire to play Test matches in Australia purely as a batsman, India skipper Virat Kohli said Pandya’s position in Test side is only as an all-rounder and the team management refused to include him.

Hardik, however, bowled in each and every match of the T20 International series against England and also bowled nine crucial overs in the third and final ODI that India managed to win to clinch the series against Eoin Morgan’s side.

The series, however, saw him pick a shoulder niggle as well due to which he isn’t bowling currently.

Indo-Asian News Srevice



Squads:
Delhi Capitals: Rishabh Pant (captain/wicketkeeper), Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Steve Smith, Sam Billings, Shimron Hetmyer, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Umesh Yadav, Tom Curran, Lalit Yadav, Pravin Dubey,  Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Chris Woakes, Vishnu Vinod (wicketkeeper), Aditya Tare

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (captain), Adam Milne, Aditya Tare, Arjun Tendulkar, Chris Lynn, Dhawal Kulkarni, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), James Neesham, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Marco Jansen, Piyush Chawla, Quinton De Kock (wicketkeeper), Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Tiwary, Suryakumar Yadav, Trent Boult, Yudhvir Singh