Super Sunday (March 27) will see the first of the 12 double-headers in the IPL 2022 as Delhi Capitals (DC) take on Mumbai Indians (MI) in the first match at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.
Mumbai Indians had failed to make it into the final four in IPL 2021, while Delhi Capitals had ended the tournament league stage as the no.1 ranked team. This time, however, both teams have issues with their squads and will try to start on a positive note.
DC will be without a host of their foreign players thanks to injuries and availability issues, while for MI, their squad seems low on experience and skills in the bowling department.
Therefore, TEAM COC takes a look at the predicted playing XIs for the DC v MI match.
DELHI CAPITALS
Delhi Capitals, led by Rishabh Pant will be without two of their biggest stars in opener David Warner and fast bowler Anrich Nortje. While Warner cannot play a match in IPL till April 6 as per Cricket Australia mandate, he will also be in Melbourne for the funeral of Shane Warne.
Anrich Nortje is still rehabbing from his hip injury and may not play the starting couple of games or so. Therefore, DC might look to open with Tim Seifert and Prithvi Shaw, with the more experienced Mandeep Singh coming in at 3.
The big-hitting responsibilities will be taken by Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, and West Indian Rovman Powell. All-rounders Akshar Patel and Shardul Thakur are expected to add depth to the DC batting lineup. Akshar might be partnered in the spin department by Kuldeep Yadav, while Chetan Sakariya and Khaleel Ahmed might power the pace bowling.
MUMBAI INDIANS
Many experts felt that the Mumbai Indians led by Rohit Sharma didn’t have the kind of auction they would have liked this year. While they bought back Ishan Kishan for a whopping INR 15.25 crores and young batting talents like Dewald Brevis and Tilak Varma, they look quite short in the bowling department.
Rohit Sharma might be expected to open the innings with Ishan Kishan. With Suryakumar Yadav not fit for the first match, Tilak Varma and Dewald Brevis might make their debut in the top half of the middle order.
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The big hitter in Tim David and Kieron Pollard are expected to do the heavy hitting in death overs. Jaydev Unadkat and Jasprit Bumrah are expected to form the Indian contingent for pace bowling with Daniel Sams, and Riley Meredith along with Tymal Mills in the foreign options.
M Ashwin and Mayank Markande are expected to be the spin options, given that they don’t have many to choose from.
DC COC Predicted Playing XI:
Prithvi Shaw, Tim Seifert, Mandeep Singh, Rishabh Pant (C&WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Rovman Powell, Akshar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Chetan Sakariya, Khaleel Ahmed
MI COC Predicted Playing XI:
Rohit Sharma (C), Ishan Kishan (WK), Dewald Brevis, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Kieron Pollard, Daniel Sams, Jaydev Unadkat, M Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mayank Markande
