Highlights:
- IPL 2020 first qualifier match to be played between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals
- MI and DC will face each other at the Dubai International Stadium at 7:30 PM (IST)
- No matter which team loses today, it will get another shot at making it to the finals
The top two finishers of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League’s league stages matches will face each other in the first playoffs which will be played today at 7:30 PM IST in Dubai at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
When the tournament began, DC were looking like a well-oiled machine in a phenomenal form ready to reach the playoffs without any problem, yet after winning 7 of the 9 matches they suffered 4 back to back losses and the Shreyar Iyer-lead DC had to wait until the very last match of the league stages to seal their position in the playoffs.
And when they defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore, they cemented the 2nd position on the IPL 2020 points table.
Talking about the defending champions of the Indian Premier League, Mumbai Indians, stayed true to their reputation and became the first team to qualify to the Playoffs even with skipper Rohit Sharma missing matches owing to a hamstring injury.
Sharma missed 4 matches due to his injury and came back on on Tuesday for the last match of MI and IPL league stage against SunRisers Hyderabad where he failed to perform.
Having said this, seeing skipper Rohit Sharma back on his feet and playing the match was a piece of good news for the franchise but it did not go down so well with the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Sourav Ganguly who had advised Rohit Sharma and opener of team India not to rush his comeback considering the nature of the injury.
Sharma was not included for India’s tour of Australia tour starting after the IPL final on Nov. 10 owing to the injury.
With their fair share of troubles in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League which is being hosted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), both DC and MI would be eager to win at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium and become the first team to enter the IPL 2020 final.
In the match played against SRH on Tuesday, Rohit Sharma only scored 4 runs from 7 deliveries before being sent back to the dressing room which has lead many to think that Sharma is still a little shaky after coming back from injury, and DC sense an opportunity.
SRK won their match with all 10 wickets intact.
Delhi Capital’s top scorer and Rohit Sharma’s co-opener for team India, Shikhar Dhawan, said, “Rohit is a very good player, and if he hasn’t played many matches (after the injury) may be his touch is not the same as before. We can definitely take advantage of it,” on Wednesday.
Dhawan added, “I am sure he has recovered well, we will understand it better during the game. Whenever a player returns from injury, he faces a different kind of pressure. Of course, we are going to take advantage of that.”
While targeting the batting order of Mumbai Indians in today’s match could be a good strategy but DC is facing their fair share of troubles with the batting order. Though Dhawan’s top-notch form has covered up for the rest of the team’s failure with back to back tons in IPL 2020, the only player to do so in this season, MI has a formidable bowling order and their inconsistency in batting order could be exploited.
For DC, the problem they are facing is mainly with two of their young guns – Prithvi Shaw and Rishabh Pant. In the past 6 innings, Shaw has failed to put up a score beyond 10 in front of his name, while Pant’s highest score in 11 matches has been 38. Delhi’s two overseas players, Shimron Hetmyer and Marcus Stoinis have not been consistent either having scored 138 runs and 249 runs in IPL 2020 respectively.
