It is Matchday 2 in the 15th edition of IPL and the most successful team in the history of this competition is all set to begin their new campaign. Mumbai Indians (MI) lock horns with Delhi Capitals (DC) in the first match of the double-header on Sunday.
Both clubs will enter this match having revamped their respective rosters over the 2-day mega auction and will be hoping to get off to a winning start.
Last season, the Mumbai Indians fell short of expectations, failing to enter the playoffs. In this edition, playing on their home turf will be a distinct benefit. There are many new names in the lineup, and we shall see a different Mumbai Indians team than the last time we saw them.
On the other hand, Delhi Capitals are yet to win the tournament and they will be looking forward to grab one this year. Meanwhile, coach Ricky Pointing is quite optimistic about the squad this time around. Some prominent overseas players will miss the Delhi Capitals’ opening game, but coach Ricky Ponting claims that this will have no affect on the team’s performance. It will be difficult to choose the ideal lineup for their first game, but it will provide Pant and coach Ricky the opportunity to try out some fresh ideas.
DC vs MI – Match Details
Match #2
Venue: Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai
Date &Time: March 27th at 3:30 PM IST and local time
Live Streaming: Star Sports Network and Disney+Hotstar
Pitch Report
The Brabourne wicket is expected to help the bowlers in the early stages. The pacers may be able to get some swing early on, while the spinners will need to concentrate on their lines and lengths in order to gain some traction on the pitch. It’s almost certain that this will be a high-scoring match.
Team News
Delhi Capitals
Delhi capitals will miss David Warner for the first 2 games. While the Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh will miss the first 3 games. Lungi Ngidi and Mustafizur Rahman both were involved in the first match of the ODI series between South Africa and Bangladesh. Thus, they too will miss out on the 1st match.
However, the major concern for Delhi will be the injury of Anrich Nortje. The South African is recovering from hip and back issues. Thus, he will likely miss out on the initial 4 or 5 matches for the Capitals.
Mumbai Indians
Jofra Archer, the England fast bowler who was bought for INR 8 crores at the auction, will miss the 2022 season as he recovers from an elbow injury.
Suryakumar Yadav, on the other hand, will be unavailable for Mumbai’s first match against Delhi Capitals on March 27. In the final T20I versus West Indies, he suffered a minor thumb fracture. Thus, Suryakumar Yadav’s talents would be sorely missed by the Mumbai Indians in this match.
Predicted XI
Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, Tim Seifert, KS Bharat, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Rovman Powell, Sarfaraz Khan/Mandeep Singh, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav/Lalit Yadav, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Chetan Sakariya.
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Anmolpreet Singh, Kieron Pollard, Tim David, Daniel Sams, Sanjay Yadav, Mayank Markande, Jasprit Bumrah, Tymal Mills.
