Before The Battle For The Trophy Between MI And RSP Brings, Here’s A Quick Preview Of The High Voltage Maharashtra Derby.

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After Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians toppled Gautam Gambhir led Kolkata Knight Riders in the second qualifier of the Indian Premier League in Bengaluru’s M Chinaswamy stadium yesterday, the stage is perfectly set for a high voltage Maharashtra derby on Sunday in Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium at Uppal as the Rising Pune Supergiant took to twitter to extend a caustic welcome to the MI into the final.

MSMN brings an exclusive preview before the two teams lock horns for the final time in this year’s IPL.

The Mental Games Begin

“Congratulations to @mipaltan!   We shall meet again! #IPLFinal 😎👊,” said the official twitter handle of Sanjiv Goenka’s IPL team. Heading into the final of this cash rich cricket league, RPS has an upper hand over the franchise from Mumbai. In all the three encounters in this year’s IPL, which include 2 league matches and the 1st qualifier, RPS has been successful in securing memorable victories over the team owned by the Ambanis.

What can be seen as a befitting reply from the Mumbai Indians came from Karn Sharma who bagged the man of the match award against KKR on Friday for grabbing 4 wickets by considering just 16 runs in 4 overs. Sharma, while speaking to the media persons in the post-match press conference said, “”We are fully prepared and we will win the finals. That is for sure. The losses were in the past.”

No Clear Cut Favourites in Stats War

But just when one thinks that a 3-0 lead is both a numeric and moral advantage, another interesting statistic emerge which points out that no team ever has ever had in the history of 10 year’s IPL had won all 4 encounters against a particular opposition. Thus, before facing the Pune nemesis, Mumbai has something to cheer for as far as stats are concerned.

Hittman Versus Smithy

Now, if Rohit Sharma feels confident as a captain since he has led the team to two IPL titles in 2013 and 2015, the fact that no team under the leadership of an Aussie had ever lost an IPL final tilts the balance in favour of Steve Smith. In the inaugural edition in 2008, Shane Warne captioned Rajasthan Royals to victory. In 2009, Adam Gilchrist was the skipper of the Deccan Chargers when they defeated Chennai Super King to win the title. Last year, it was under the leadership of David Warner the Sunrisers Hyderabad won their maiden IPL final.

As far as the form of Sharma and Smith is concerned, the Aussie is way ahead as he has amassed 421 runs this season at a staggering average of close to 40. For Sharma, this season has not been remarkable as he has managed to score only 309 runs at an average of 23.76 which is truly below par for a player of his stature.

MSD Vs Keiron Pollard

Pollard (MI) and Dhoni (RPS) are two explosive players who bring to their respective sides depth in the batting order. The similarity between these two has been that both have failed to make massive impacts in the year’s tournament. But Mahi’s innings of 26 balls 40 in the 1st qualifier will serve as a source of great relief and confidence for the Pune team. Pollard’s form with the bat on Sunday evening will play a crucial role in deciding whether MI lifts the IPL trophy or remains as the second best team.

Jasprit Bumrah vs Jaydev Unadkat

Jasprit Bumrah, who was smacked out of the park twice by MSD in the 1st qualifier, will be looking forward to settle the scores in the final. The right arm pacer showed his effectiveness against KKR when he fetched 3 wickets by giving away just 7 runs. Meanwhile, jaydev Unadkat has been a bright spot in RPS bowling line-up. By picking up wickets both at the start and the death, Unadkat has now got 22 wickets from 11 matches which makes him the second highest wicket-taker of the tourney.

The form of players like Parthiv Patel, Karn Sharma and the Pandya brothers of the MI squad and Washington Sundar, Rahul Tripathy and Manoj Tiwary of the Pune team will also be important on Sunday.

 

 

 

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