Published: May 16, 2017, 06:55 PM (IST)
Edited: May 16, 2017, 11:42 PM (IST)
Like you do not judge a book by its cover, do not judge this contest by the friendly feature image. The animosity between Steven Smith and some of the Indian players since February 2017 was one of the reasons we used this image. The world can be a happy place for sure and cricket can do its bit to eclipse the controversy part. Anyways, welcome to the live coverage of the Qualifier I on Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017. I am Kaustubh Mayekar and will bring you the live updates from the big Maharashtra derby between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) from Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Full Cricket Scorecard: Mumbai Indians vs Rising Pune Supergiant, IPL 2017, Qualifier 1 at Mumbai
The winner of this contest will fly straight to Hyderabad to play the tournament final on Sunday. The losing side will have another chance on Friday at Bengaluru when they take on the winner of the Eliminator. Though it is not a knockout contest, there is still the final spot at stake. MI have been the best side in the tournament. They topped the league stages with 20 points and have looked to be the most balanced unit in the competition. They are even more formidable at home and without an iota of doubt they start as favourites.
However, RPS have a 3-1 advantage over Mumbai. MI have lost only 3 games this season and 2 of them have been against the Pune side. However, without Ben Stokes the Pune side lacks the zing and the X-factor. They have quality and form in Smith, MS Dhoni, Manoj Tiwary, Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Tripathi, Jaydev Unadkat, etc. but they need more than that to counter Rohit Sharma’s MI.
Being Mumbai boys, Shardul Thakur and Rahane know Wankhede well and RPS will count on them. However, to cross the hurdle against a side that has Rohit, Ambati Rayudu, Kieron Pollard, Lendl Simmons, Lasith Malinga, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and the Pandya brothers, RPS will have to play their best cricket.
Toss is going to play a crucial role. All in all, let us brace ourselves for this run-fest.
Squads:
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Parthiv Patel (wk), Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard, Jos Buttler, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nitish Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Mitchell Johnson, Lendl Simmons, Tim Southee, Vinay Kumar, Saurabh Tiwary, Karn Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Krishnappa Gowtham, Siddhesh Lad, Nicholas Pooran, Shreyas Gopal, Asela Gunaratne, Jitesh Sharma, Deepak Punia, Jagadeesha Suchith, Kulwant Khejroliya.
Rising Pune Supergiant: Steven Smith (c), MS Dhoni (wk), Manoj Tiwary, Ajinkya Rahane, Ashok Dinda, Rajat Bhatia, Mayank Agarwal, Ben Stokes, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Adam Zampa, Daniel Christian, Jaydev Unadkat, Usman Khawaja, Ankit Sharma, Faf du Plessis, Baba Aparajith, Ishwar Pandey, Shardul Thakur, Rahul Tripathi, Ankush Bains, Saurabh Kumar, Lockie Ferguson, Jaskaran Singh, Milind Tandon, Rahul Chahar
