The defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) will be taking on the runners up Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the first match of this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL). After waiting for more than five months, the IPL has arrived and there is no better game to get things started. Everybody is aware of the rivalry between these two teams and it going to get more exciting as it is the IPL opener.
Mumbai Indians are generally slow starters in the IPL but they would like to change it this year and start the tournament with a win against the men in yellow. On the other hand, CSK might have a few problems with some of their players leaving but with MS Dhoni at the fore, you can’t take them lightly.
Everybody has been waiting for the IPL to start since March and finally, we are going to witness the first match of this year’s IPL on the 19th of September. It is going to be a cracking contest as everybody will be glued to their television screens to see the Indian stars back in action.
Match Details
Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings, Match 1
19th September, 07:30 PM IST.
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Pitch and Weather Report
The temperature will most probably be in the high 30s even during the match time which makes life difficult for the players as they would have to face the heat. Other than that, the weather should be fine for the IPL opener.
This is the first game of the tournament so the pitch is expected to be good for the batsmen. But if you have a look at the overall record then it suggests that it is a low scoring venue. The average score at this venue in T20Is is 139 and in domestic T20s is 147. A score around 160-170 might be a decent one if you have good spinners in your team.
Squads
Mumbai Indians
Rohit Sharma (C), Quinton De Kock, Chris Lynn, Saurabh Tiwary, Suryakumar Yadav, Aditya Tare, Ishan Kishan, Digvijay Deshmukh, Anmolpreet Singh, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Sherfane Rutherford, Nathan Coulter Nile, Anukul Roy, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jayant Yadav, Trent Boult, James Pattinson, Prince Balwant Rai Singh, Mohsin Khan
Chennai Super Kings
MS Dhoni (C), Shane Watson, Murali Vijay, Ambati Rayudu, Faf Du Plessis, Kedar Jadhav, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Dwayne Bravo, Sam Curran, Piyush Chawla, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir, KM Asif, M Jagdeesan, Karn Sharma, Lungi Ngidi, Josh Hazlewood, Monu Kumar, R Sai Kishore,
Team News
Mumbai Indians
The Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma has clearly said that he is going to continue to open the batting in this year’s IPL. Having said that, he also mentioned that they are keeping all the options open. MI will miss the services of Lasith Malinga as he has opted out of the tournament due to personal reasons.
Mumbai Indians have added Trent Boult and Nathan Coulter-Nile to their squad who could be great additions to support Jasprit Bumrah. Among the spinners, Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya will be the key. Hardik Pandya who hasn’t played cricket for a while first due to an injury and then due to the pandemic will be the player to watch out for in this team.
Chennai Super Kings
Chennai Super Kings has received a huge setback as two of their key players have opted out of the IPL due to personal reasons. Suresh Raina who came to India might go back to UAE but only in the latter part of the tournament.
Deepak Chahar who had tested positive is now fit and might be picked for the first game. Ruturaj Gaikwad who had also tested positive won’t be available for selection for the first game. CSK has a lot of spinners to choose from and that’s going to be a tough task for the CSK skipper.
Most of the CSK players haven’t played cricket for more than a year and it would be interesting to see how they perform in their first couple of matches. MS Dhoni who recently retired from international cricket will be the player to watch out for.
Fantasy Prediction
Rohit Sharma, Faf Du Plessis, Suryakumar Yadav, Quinton De Kock, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Chahar, Imran Tahir, Jasprit Bumrah
Captain: Rohit Sharma, Vice-Captain: Imran Tahir
