CAN MUMBAI CONTINUE THEIR DREAM RUN AGAINST GUJARAT?

Two ways to look at a similar situation, Mumbai Indians would be looking at this as a chance to heaven, while Gujarat Titans would believe that one bad match/one bad day has put them to hell, where one side is the road to heaven (finals) and the other side is fire of hell (disqualification).

Gujarat has been the people’s favourite team, with the way that they have restructured the requirements for this massive tournament. It wouldn’t be wrong in saying that they have re-defined the IPL, with their different approach.

Mumbai Indians had a terrible start to the tournament, a way that they are so well accustomed to. But another thing that they are well versed with is that they know to make a comeback and a really good one. A comeback which keeps people in a state of shock for quite a while. The question is going to be, can they continue this illustrative journey to the finals by putting down the best team of IPL at their own backyard?

MATCH 73 of 74/QUALIFIER 2 – GUJARAT TITANS (GT) vs MUMBAI INDIANS (MI) AT AHMEDABAD

• INTRODUCTION – Gujarat was slightly unfortunate to get their qualifier 1 match against Chennai Super Kings at their home ground, which has been their fortress for years. Although spin plays a big role and Gujarat did have the availability for two wrist spinners, but there is more to that is what we have learnt. The MA Chidambaram wicket suits and aids finger spinners more than wrist spinners. Although now that the game is back to their comfort zone, Gujarat would want to forget this bad day and get back to winning ways. Mumbai on the other hand is the 5-time champion and they know exactly how to win these crunch moments and put down strong and dangerous teams on their day. This is definitely going to be a cracker of a match between two teams that don’t believe in giving up.

• PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS – Both these teams have clashed twice this season. The first game was in Ahmedabad and MI put GT to bat first, where the Titans posted 207/6 in 20 overs. Gill, Miller and Manohar were the craftsman. In reply, Gujarat’s spin stood up to be too good for Mumbai, where the Afghani duo picked 5 wickets between them. Hence, GT won the first encounter easily. In the second encounter, Mumbai at their home ground lost the toss and were put to bat. On the back of a solid 100 from Surya, Mumbai Indians posted a massive 218/5. Chasing a mammoth target, GT lost early wickets but coming in lower down Rashid Khan’s blasted a blistering 79 off 32 balls to get GT to 191/8, which reduced the margin of defeat for GT by just 27 runs.

• Head-to-Head - Played - 3; Won by GT – 1; Won by MI – 2

• GT possible 12 – S Gill, W Saha, H Pandya, D Shanaka, D Miller, R Tewatia, R Khan, D Nalkande, M Sharma, N Ahmad, M Shami, V Shankar

• MI possible 12 – R Sharma, I Kishan, C Green, S Yadav, T David, T Varma, C Jordan, H Shokeen, P Chawla, J Behrendorff, A Madhwal, N Wadhera

• Pitch & Weather Report – The Gujarat wicket is a sporting wicket which has something for the bowlers initially, but after that there is brilliant rewards for the batters for that initial patience. The bowlers are also rewarded with a little bit of protection with slight larger boundaries, which could reward them with wickets for getting miss hits. The average score in the ground is somewhere around 180 and running between the wicket plays a big role. The temperature is expected to be between 28 to 40 degrees and the team winning the toss might chose to bowl with dew expected later in the evening. There is no chance for rain to interrupt play.

• Our Match Prediction – We all want a final between Dhoni and Rohit Sharma. I know that this is one occasion where I am leaving the odds behind and going with a gut, which might have very few logics and reasoning with it. On paper, it certainly has to be Gujarat, that would start as favourites, but I feel that Mumbai is just going to bring in something special and make its way to through to the finals. If Dhoni is going to retire, then we surely want to see him battle it against the Mumbai Indians and equal the record of 5 title wins of IPL to his retirement.

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