Match details
Mumbai Indians (MI) vs Delhi Capitals (DC)
Mumbai, 3.30 p.m. IST (10am GMT)
Big Picture – Possible return of Suryakumar and Bumrah vs Pant
Sunday’s doubleheader will begin with a bottom-of-the-table clash as Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals look to turn their fortunes around. Mumbai are still winless while Capitals have won just one of their four games. Both teams come into the game on the back of aggregate losses.
IPL 2024 marked Pant’s return to professional cricket after a life-threatening road accident in December 2022. After a slow start to the season, Pant quickly opened fifties against Chennai Super Kings and KKR and seems to be batting with a lot freedom. Apart from David Warner, Pant is one of the big threats that Mumbai will face.
Pant also struggled to score quickly from Bumrah, batting at 111.62 against him.
With Akash Madhwal in their attack as well, Mumbai can be flexible in using Bumrah and can save him for this crucial match. How this battle plays out could go a long way in deciding the outcome of the game.
Form guide
Bombay LLL (Latest Match First)
Capital LWLL
Team news and player influence strategy
Mumbai Indians
If Suryakumar is available, Naman Dhir will probably make room for him. It will be interesting to see how Mumbai use the impact player. In their last match, they brought in Dewald Brevis as an impact player right from the end of the first over, and he was out for a golden duck. Brevis and Romario Shepherd are likely candidates for the role if they bottle Mumbai first – or if they bat and suffer early losses – while a sixth bowler could come in if they bat first.
Probable XII: 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Naman Dhir/Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Dewald Brevis/Romario Shepherd 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Hardik Pandya (captain), 7 Tim David, 8 Piyush Chawla, 9 Gerald Coetzee, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Akash Madhwal, 12 Kwena Maphaka.
Capitals of Delhi
Delhi Capitals could have Kuldeep Yadav back in the mix after missing their last two matches. Kuldeep started the season well but was then advised to rest due to a groin strain. The Capitals will get a final call on his availability after a fitness test either on the eve of the game or on the day of the game. Mitchell Marsh was also injured during the Capitals’ last match and this could set up compatriot Jake Fraser-McGurk for an IPL debut.
Probable XII: 1 David Warner, 2 Prithvi Shaw, 3 Jake Fraser-McGurk, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), 5 Abishek Porel6 Tristan Stubbs, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Sumit Kumar/Kuldeep Yadav, 9 Rasikh Salam, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Ishant Sharma, 12 Khaleel Ahmed.
In the spotlight – Akash Madhwal and Khaleel Ahmed
Statistics that matter
- Since the start of IPL 2022, Mumbai Indians have a 45.8% win rate with Suryakumar Yadav in their side. The number drops to 22.2% without it.
- Rohit Sharma struggled to score against Axar Patel, scoring just 51 runs off 61 deliveries against the left-armer. Axar has also got him out twice in nine innings.
- Akash Madhwal has a bowling average of 11.1 at the Wankhede Stadium, with 10 wickets in four matches at the ground.
Step and conditions
Last year, the Wankhede was a high-scoring ground, but this match will use the same strip as the match against Royals. This pitch was not used in IPL 2023 and proved difficult. There was seam movement early on and the ball was also kept on the pitch as the match wore on. So expect batters to work hard on their drives.
Quotation marks
“I do not think [fans] he should book Hardik Pandya. The franchise has designated him as the captain. This is what happens in sports, whether you are the captain of India or the captain of your state or the captain of your franchise, you are appointed as the captain. Rohit Sharma is in a different class, his performance for his franchise and for India has been a different level either as a captain or as a player. It’s not Hardik’s fault that he was appointed captain.”
Capitals Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly provides support to the new captain of Mumbai Indians
Abhimanyu Bose is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo