Big picture - both Mumbai Indians and CSK look undercooked
Rohit Sharma's Mumbai Indians vs MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings. Two teams with contrasting T20 ideologies come together once again for IPL's El Clasico. Mumbai have always been big on data and match-ups, while Super Kings' approach is still driven by Dhoni's instincts. But the absence of key players has taken some sheen off this marquee clash.
Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard will be in the respective backrooms. Jasprit Bumrah is still injured and has been sidelined from the entire tournament. Maheesh Theekshana is yet to arrive. Mumbai will also have to deal with the injury-enforced absence of Jhye Richardson for the entire season. CSK did CSK things at Chepauk on Monday, but they appear vulnerable away from home.
In the season opener against Gujarat Titans, Super Kings dominated the early exchanges before they let the game slip out of their grasp. The arrival of Sisanda Magala, the South Africa and Sunrisers Eastern Cape death-bowling specialist, could potentially give Super Kings' seam attack the cutting edge it lacked in that match against Titans. Will Magala slot right in? Will Mitchell Santner be benched after impressive spells both in Ahmedabad and Chennai?
Super Kings' batting depth - they have Deepak Chahar listed at No.11 - is well-suited to the Wankhede pitch. Mumbai's batting also drips with power - imagine what Suryakumar Yadav, Cameron Green and Tim David can do on an easy-paced Wankhede track - but their bowling attack appears light. On the bowling front, this season might be Jofra Archer or nothing for Mumbai.
Team news
It remains to be seen whether Riley Meredith, who has been signed as a replacement for Richardson, is available for selection for Sunday.
Toss and Impact Player strategy
Mumbai Indians
Mumbai might once again start with just three overseas players and use powerplay specialist Jason Behrendorff as an Impact Player in place of one of the batters when they bowl. If Wankhede offers some early swing, the Australia and Perth Scorchers left-arm seamer could be a handful against Super Kings' top order.
Probable bat-first XI: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Cameron Green, 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Nehal Wadhera, 7 Tim David, 8 Hrithik Shokeen, 9 Arshad Khan, 10 Kumar Karthikeya/Piyush Chawla, 11 Jofra Archer
Probable bowl-first XI: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Cameron Green, 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Nehal Wadhera, 6 Tim David, 7 Hrithik Shokeen, 8 Jason Benrendorff, 9 Arshad Khan, 10 Kumar Karthikeya/Piyush Chawla, 11 Jofra Archer
Chennai Super Kings
Magala, fresh off a maiden ODI five-wicket haul, is likely to start for Super Kings in place of Santner. After helping Super Kings seal victory in Chennai earlier this week, Tushar Deshpande said that he has been working closely with Super Kings' bowling coach Bravo to expand his range at the death. Deshpande could start if Super Kings bowl first and then Ambati Rayudu could be introduced to replace him as an Impact Player when they bat.
Probable bat-first XI: 1 Devon Conway, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 3 Moeen Ali, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Ambati Rayudu, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 MS Dhoni (capt&wk), 9 Sisanda Magala/Mitchell Santner, 10 Rajvardhan Hangargekar, 11 Deepak Chahar
Possible bowl-first XI: 1 Devon Conway, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 3 Moeen Ali, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 MS Dhoni (capt&wk), 8 Sisanda Magala/Mitchell Santner, 9 Rajvardhan Hangargekar, 10 Deepak Chahar, 11 Tushar Deshpande
Tom Moody and Deep Dasgupta discuss MS Dhoni's three balls, off which he hit two sixes before getting out
Stats that matter
Mumbai have had the wood over Super Kings at the Wankhede, winning seven of the ten games they have played against them there.
Piyush Chawla has a good head-to-head record against Rayudu in the IPL, having dismissed him six times in 12 innings. No other bowler has got Rayudu more times in the league.
While Magala offers an attractive pace option for Super Kings, there might also be a case for them to retain Santner, since the left-arm fingerspinner has dismissed Suryakumar twice in seven T20 innings while keeping him to just 52 off 56 balls. Suryakumar has also struggled to get Ravindra Jadeja away in T20 cricket, managing only 43 off 55 balls against him while falling three times.
Pitch and conditions
When Wankhede hosted the ODI against Australia earlier this month, it offered swing and seam movement. There could be some early movement for the seamers on Saturday too, but IPL pitches at the venue are largely flat, resulting in high-scoring contests. The weather is expected to be warm and humid for the duration of the match.
Quotes
"Fortunately or unfortunately, when he plays this season, everywhere he goes, he's going to have a home crowd and a home support, because of what he has done. We have felt that years ago when we had our own icon, Sachin Tendulkar. No matter where we went, throughout India, we had that support."
Mumbai Indians batting coach Kieron Pollard on the MS Dhoni phenomenon.
"The bowling group and my other coach Eric [Simmons], we are all on the same page, trying to get the guys understand the philosophy around bowling. So, it is a work in progress. Players have to develop their own style, and we just have to encourage them to stick to the basics."
CSK bowling coach Dwayne Bravo on their death bowling
