Mumbai aim to continue winning run against Hyderabad

There have been huge discussions on social media, whether Arjun Tendulkar deserved the debut cap against Kolkata, or was it another case of nepotism. With Arjun bowling in mid-120s with some marginal swing on offer, he certainly didn’t make a case for himself. Another thing that was disappointing was that he was not able to make the ball carry to the wicketkeeper consistently. With him just bowling 2 overs at the start, he needs to fit in the batting all-rounder category and whether he is able to impress with the bat, is something that we will only know with time. But all said and done, in a country of almost 1.5 billion people, a farmer’s son bowling at mid-120’s would have surely not been able to make it to this level, so there has to be some kind of influence from him to have this opportunity with arguably the best team of IPL with 5 championships.

SRH vs MI AT HYDERABAD

· TEAM INFO – Mumbai had a terrible start to IPL 2023, but have finally come back with two back-to-back wins against Delhi and Kolkata. Just like Mumbai, even Sunrisers Hyderabad had a terrible start, but with back-to-back wins against Punjab and Kolkata, they have also caught up. Although, both these teams are currently second and third last on the table and that’s what they would like to change with time to come. Mumbai have given captaincy to Surya Kumar Yadav, although whether it’s a long-term decision or a short one, only time will tell. Hyderabad are struggling with their bowling department, something which they would like to improve substantially.

· Head-to-Head - Played - 19; Won by MI – 10; Won by SRH – 9

· SRH possible XI – Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram (c), Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Marco Jansen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, Umran Malik, Harry Brook/Washington Sundar (Impact Player), T Natarajan

· MI possible XI –Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Hrithik Shokeen, Cameron Green, Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Arjun Tendulkar, Piyush Chawla, Duan Jansen, Riley Meredith/Rohit Sharma (Impact Player).

· Pitch & Weather Report - The pitch at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium is on the slower side. The spinners will play a major role while bowling at this venue as the ball tends to grip off the surface. Run-scoring becomes easier once the batters spend some time in the middle.

· Match Prediction – Both SRH and MI are on a roll with 2 wins out of 2 games and they would surely look to further extend their impact to secure the position in the play-offs as soon as possible. Although it is Mumbai which has looked vulnerable because of their below average bowling attack. Hyderabad have their concern with out-of-form Mayank Agarwal and Tripathi and I assure you that both will fancy their chances against the medium pace of Arjun Tendulkar. For the same reason, I feel that it’s going to be Hyderabad that will be celebrating with some special ‘Hyderabadi Sheer Kurma’ (a dish).

· Fan Comments

“Back-to-back wins will motivate both teams to make it three in a row. Though happy to see ‘Sky’ back amongst runs, I am backing SRH to win.” – Arjun Krishnamoorthy, 32, Analyst/KPMG, Indian.

“It’s my son’s birthday and as hardcore cricket fans, we are rooting for Mumbai to win in a very closely contested encounter between two teams that have had an even-steven past. – Hemlata Jesrani, 72, Social Worker, Indian.

“One team that has been having the title of underdogs since the start and also the support of everyone is the Sunrisers Hyderabad. But, I feel that this is the year when all of that is going to change and Hyderabad is going to rise as one of the strongest teams in the IPL, under the captaincy of Markaram.” – Rafiq Mohammed, Computer Hardware Technician & Ex-Junior National Team Captain, Omani.

“I have been a big fan of T20 cricket and really look forward to seeing the clash of talented Indian batsmen vs the quality Pakistani bowling in one of the T20 leagues. Hopefully, in the future, good leaders will open doors to youth of both sides, which will be a big boon for cricket.” – Ibn Eameen Habib, 36, Luxury Car Garage Owner, Pakistani.

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