IPL 2017 | MI vs RPS, Match Preview: Mumbai Indians to lock horns against Rising Pune Supergiants in Maharashtra derby clash

Mumbai Indians shall be taking on a resurgent Rising Pune Supergiants at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday. The match is scheduled to commence at 8 pm. The game shall be Mumbai Indian's 50th match at the Wankhede Stadium. It shall also coincide with batting maestro's Sachin Tendulkar's 44 Bday celebrations at the venue.

The two city rivals have met each other thrice in the IPL encounters so far with Pune having the winning edge with 2 victories.Rising Pune Supergiants had beaten their much more fancied rival this season on their home turf at Pune.

The last time Pune played at the Wankhede, they won by nine wickets with Ajinkya Rahane and Faf du Plessis doing the bulk of the scoring. 

Both Mumbai and Pune shall be coming into the game at the back of some good form. Mumbai Indians are in good form winning six of their seven games played so far and are comfortably placed at the top in the points table. Rising Pune Supergiants are stuck in the middle of the table courtesy their three wins and the same number of losses in six games.Mumbai 

Mumbai is one of the most balanced sides in the tournament with a potent batting lineup and the requisite arsenal in their bowling.Their batting has come good with the opening pair of Jos Butler and Parthiv Patel firing on all cylinders.

Rohit Sharma who was out of sorts in the opening game has got some form back. Meanwhile, they have been given the late flourish in the innings by the Pandya Brothers and Keiron Pollard.The bowling has been well served by a potent seam attack in Jasprit Bumrah, Mitchell Johnson and who can be strike weapons on all surfaces. Harbhajan Singh has been par excellence in his role as a run container in the middle. Young turk Nitish Rana has showcased glimpses of his batting prowess

Rising Pune Supergiants form has been topsy-turvy so far. They have the firepower in the batting but lack the requisite depth in their bowling.

Rahane and Steven Smith were in good form in the first couple of games but have been inconsistent ever since.Meanwhile, Rahul Tripathi has showcased a lot of promise with the willow.The biggest plus for the Pune team has been MS Dhoni rediscovering his finishing skills in the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

RSP's bowling in the death has been pretty dismal. Their frontline seamer Ashok Dinda has gone in for plenty in the death overs.Meanwhile, they have two spinners in their ranks in Imran Tahir and Adam Zampa so they could be used to good effect against the Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma who has been struggling against spin.