By Jamie Alter
Tendulkar’s team sit atop the league table with four wins from five matches. The core of their previous season’s team has been retained, and the addition of Rohit Sharma and Andrew Symonds, both former team-mates at DC, has meant a smooth transition.
Published: Apr 23, 2011, 04:42 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 23, 2011, 04:42 PM (IST)
Sachin Tendulkar will lead Mumbai against Deccan
By Jamie Alter
Hyderabad: Apr 24, 2011
Harbhajan Singh says teams go into every match looking to win, but this is one which Mumbai Indians will try to win a bit harder because its Sachin Tendulkar’s 38th birthday. After two wins on the trot at home, Mumbai Indians move south to Hyderabad to face hosts Deccan Chargers, a team that has struggled to impose itself on IPL 2011. Considering Tendulkar was patchy against Pune Warriors and failed against Chennai Super Kings, it’s a little ominous for DC that they will be up against Tendulkar on his birthday at a venue at which he averages 73.33 in one-day internationals.
Tendulkar’s team sit atop the league table with four wins from five matches, and their success has been largely down to Tendulkar’s bat and the fact that MI get along so well. The core of their previous season’s team has been retained, and the addition of Rohit Sharma and Andrew Symonds, both former team-mates at DC, has meant a smooth transition. The pair batted superbly together while launching a recovery against CSK on Friday evening, and the success of Rohit and Symonds is pivotal to MI’s middle order. Harbhajan’s maiden five-wicket haul in Twenty20 also sets him up nicely on a surface that has assisted spin.
DC’s aim is to bet back into the top four, and victory over MI will help them do so. The fight for places in the middle of the league is heating up as the season moves towards its second half, and the increased competition for semi-final spots is largely due to Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Kings XI Punjab recovering from poor starts. Both teams were perceived as weaker than a few others but have strung together three consecutive victories, while the struggles of teams like DC, Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings have left a crowded lower half of the table.
DC have been hit-and-miss. They were outclassed by RR and Kolkata Knight Riders, comfortably beat RCB, slumped to a Paul Valtathy-inspired KXIP, and brushed aside Delhi Daredevils. The bowling has started to wear a settled look, especially with RP Singh returning to form and R Vinay Kumar consistently turning in good outings. Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha, the two most successful spinners in the IPL, now need to find a way to work in tandem.
With the bat, captain Kumar Sangakkara has found starts but hasn’t always converted them. Sunny Sohal remains an inconsistent player, while JP Duminy has been a flop. His replacement, Cameron White, is coming off a terrible international season and DC would hope he relocates his mojo. DC aren’t a poor side, but they need to find that level of compatibility where the batsmen and bowlers contribute in equal measure. Doing so against the top-ranked side in the league, and at a venue in which they have only won a single match across three seasons, DC could find themselves approaching the mid-way stage of the tournament in a much better mood.
Teams:
DC (Probable): Shikhar Dhawan, Sunny Sohal, Kumar Sangakkara (capt/wk), Bharat Chipli, Cameron White, Daniel Christian, DB Ravi Teja, Dale Steyn, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha
MI (Probable): Sachin Tendulkar (capt), James Franklin, Ambati Rayudu (wk), Rohit Sharma, Andrew Symonds, Kieron Pollard, Rajagopal Sathish, Harbhajan Singh, Ali Murtaza/Abu Nechim, Lasith Malinga, Munaf Patel
Time: 16.00 local (10.30 GMT)
(Jamie Alter is a freelance cricket writer, having worked at ESPNcricinfo and All Sports Magazine. His first book, The History of World Cup Cricket, is out now. His twitter feed is @jamie_alter)
Pictures © AFP
