The story of both teams is somewhat similar so far in this season. The Rishabh Pant-led Delhi Capitals have won four out of the nine games played and currently stand at number six in the points table. The Hardik Pandya-led Mumbai Indians are in the eighth position with three victories in eight games.
Both teams desperately need a victory to improve their standings in the points table. MI have used 20 out of the total 25 players in this season which is very unlikely of the franchise. They need to come up with a fixed playing XI soon. MI’s Captain Hardik Pandya’s poor form is another concern.
Delhi Capitals have added Afghan all-rounder Gulbadin Naib for the base price as a replacement for the Australian player Mitch Marsh for the rest of the tournament. Pant played a powerful knock of unbeaten 88 runs in his last outing against Gujarat Titans which helped them win a last-ball thriller at the same venue.
DC vs MI Full Squads:
Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Axar Patel, Shai Hope, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Tristan Stubbs, Abishek Porel, Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Lalit Yadav, Praveen Dubey, Rasikh Dar Salam, Sumit Kumar, Kumar Kushagra, David Warner, Yash Dhull, Vicky Ostwal, Swastik Chikara, Jhye Richardson, Ricky Bhui, Lizaad Williams, Ishant Sharma, Gulbadin Naib
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Mohammad Nabi, Nehal Wadhera, Hardik Pandya(c), Tim David, Gerald Coetzee, Piyush Chawla, Jasprit Bumrah, Nuwan Thushara, Akash Madhwal, Naman Dhir, Shams Mulani, Dewald Brevis, Romario Shepherd, Shreyas Gopal, Kumar Kartikeya, Luke Wood, Harvik Desai, Arjun Tendulkar, Shivalik Sharma, Anshul Kamboj, Kwena Maphaka
Both teams have destructive lineups but three key player battles are worth watching out for in the DC vs MI match on Saturday
1. Jake Fraser-McGurk vs Jasprit Bumrah
Jake Fraser-McGurk has a unique batting style which has helped him in playing his shots. Batting in the powerplay, he has played some explosive shots which are jaw-dropping. He likes to give a flying start to the innings but Jasprit Bumrah will also come to bowl against him in the powerplay. The player battle between a young batter and an experienced seamer will be an interesting one to watch on Saturday.
2. Rohit Sharma vs Khaleel Ahmed
Rohit Sharma likes to fully utilise Powerplay and punish the bad balls. Khaleel Ahmed is a left-arm medium pacer who can swing the ball in both directions. Sharma has a weakness against the left-arm seamers when they target the leg area. Rohit has made many runs in this season so far but Khaleel Ahmed might come on top against him in Delhi.
3. Rishabh Pant vs Akash Madhwal
Rishabh Pant is in sublime form and with a sensational 88-run knock against Gujarat Titans in just 43 balls, he has announced his comeback. He likes to slog in the death overs and we saw how he managed to get 31 runs from the last over of Mohit Sharma. Akash Madhwal has failed to impress so far and will be tested against Pant on Saturday. The dew factor will not be there as it’s a day match, so that is another positive for Madhwal.
(With inputs from agencies)
