IPL 2018: Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings Preview

The cricket carnival, the Indian Premier League is all set to return and there could not have been a better opening fixture than Mumbai Indians locking horns with Chennai Super Kings. They are without a shadow of a doubt the two most successful teams in the history of IPL and the nerves, tension and excitement regarding the clash at the Wankhede Stadium is already touching sky high.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) marks its return following a ban of two years, and they have got their talisman, the captain cool Mahendra Singh Dhoni back amongst their ranks.

The other thing that works in favour of the Chennai franchise is that MI has been a consistent poor starter in IPL.

Harbhajan Singh, a well-known face for Mumbai until previous season will be in action against his former team and he will know every strengths and weaknesses of MI.

The ‘hitman’ of Indian cricket aka Rohit Sharma will be the main anchor of Mumbai’s batting line-up and the franchise will be hoping for fireworks from Elvin Lewis and Ishan Kishan. Meanwhile, CSK would be banking on the experience and expertise of veteran Suresh Raina, while Dhoni is set to play a more important role with his batting, this time around for CSK.

Mumbai’s fierce bowling attack will have the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Mustafizur Rehman and the duo is surely something the fans will be excited to watch. Whereas CSK will look to shake the opposition with the pace of Lungi Ngidi and the trickery of Dwayne Bravo.

HEAD TO HEAD RECORD:

The Wankhede favours the home side Mumbai Indians, who have won five out of seven against the Chennai side and will be hoping to put a stop to their blunders during their opening fixtures.

Match Prediction:

Mumbai Indians should have the slightest of the edges in the opening fixture as it is also played in their home soil. However, Chennai Super Kings will be looking to mark their return with a win against the defending champions.

Match Details Date:

April 7, 2018

Time: 20:00 hours IST (14:30 GMT)

Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Probable XI:

Mumbai Indians - Ishan Kishan (wk), Evin Lewis, Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Pat Cummins, Mustafizur Rahman, Jasprit Bumrah, Deepak Chahar

Chennai Super Kings - Murali Vijay, Shane Watson, Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Lungi Ngidi, Shardul Thakur