Ahmedabad: Skipper Hardik Pandya’s much-anticipated comeback after serving a one-match ban will lend the required balance to Mumbai Indians’ line-up when they take on an equally desperate Gujarat Titans here on Saturday as both teams are chasing their first victory in the ongoing edition of the IPL.
MI could not break their long-standing jinx of losing their IPL opener as Chennai Super Kings comfortably won by four wickets, while Gujarat Titans lost a high-scoring game to Punjab Kings by 11 runs.
With nearly a week’s gap between the first and second games, the MI team spent a few days at Reliance’s Jamnagar facility where the whole unit relaxed and engaged in team bonding activities.
It is still early days in the tournment and MI’s struggle without their pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was apparent and missing regular skipper Pandya in the opening game only made the matter worse.
In Indian cricket, Pandya is the only pure pace bowling all-rounder, who can make a complete difference with either of his skill-sets. His comeback means that Robin Minz possibly would have to sit out but MI’s batting on a slightly tacky Chepauk surface didn’t inspire much confidence.
But on Saturday, the conditions for batting will be much better after 475 runs cumulatively were scored in the opening match between Punjab Kings (243) and Titans (232).
And on a track which is a batting paradise, a serious question mark remains on Mohammed Siraj’s effectiveness. He gave away 54 runs in the opening game and was taken to cleaners by the Punjab Kings batters. With not many senior Indian pacers in the GT ranks, it will be a strategic call that home team head coach Ashish Nehra will fret upon.