Mumbai, 17/4 (AO bureau):Mumbai Indians will face Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 9th match of IPL 2021 today. The match between Mumbai and Hyderabad will be held at Chepauk ground in Chennai. Mumbai Indians defeated Kolkata Knight Riders in the last match while the Hyderabad team lost both their matches played in Chennai. The Sunrisers team is not feeling the pitch of Chennai and the team has failed to achieve the target of fewer than 150 runs. In the first two matches, the team has faced trouble in chasing the target. The team is missing the lack of Kane Williamson, who will not be able to play even in today’s match. Manish Pandey, who landed at number three in his place, must have scored runs in the last two but failed to win the team. Pandey’s strike rate, which was left out of the BCCI’s central contract list two days ago, is getting a lot of criticism.
It is unlikely that the Mumbai team will change their playing XI, especially with a win against Kolkata Knight Riders in a thrilling match. Mumbai Indians will however expect a better performance from their batsmen, who have not been able to perform as expected so far. Mumbai has pace bowlers like Nathan Culter Nile, Jimmy Neesham and Adam Milne. Captain Rohit can give a chance to one of these bowlers in place of Marco Jenson. De Cock, Trent Bolt and Kieran Pollard are scheduled to play.
On the other hand, questions are being raised over the selection of the playing XI of Captain Warner. Johnny Bairstow and Wriddhiman Saha as two wicketkeepers in the playing XI are not serving any purpose. Saha did not appear in any rhythm as an opener. Saha is part of the IPL from the first tournament in 2008, but a closer look at his record shows that he has failed to score consistently. Hyderabad team can get Bairstow to do both opening and wicketkeeping. In such a situation, Kedar Jadhav can be found in place of Saha, who will also do spin bowling. Vijay Shankar too has been ineffective in the last two matches. Priyam Garg or Abhishek Sharma may get a chance in their place
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