Deccan look to halt Mumbai charge (Preview)

Stationed top of the IPL points table this season gives Mumbai many reasons to be satisfied with their performance. Dubbed as hot favorites prior to the start of the edition, Sachin Tendulkar led Mumbai have lived up to the tag in a splendid fashion thus far. Into its third week, Mumbai is the only team to have lost only one game this season.

The most pleasing aspect of their campaign so far was the convincing win over defending champion Chennai on Saturday in which players responded brilliantly in a pressure game. Mumbai demonstrated the best fielding display of this tournament as fielders took some stunning catches and saved some vital runs to make a gettable very mountainous one for Chennai’s strong batting unit.

Harbhajan Singh’s return to the form would make Mumbai more formidable in upcoming fixtures as ace off-spinner played a crucial role in Mumbai’s win over Chennai by getting a fifer. His three wickets in one over evaporated all the chances of Chennai win.

Mumbai looks a champion material this season with likes of Sachin Tendulkar, young Ambati Rayudu, Rohit Sharma and Andrew Symonds in red hot batting form and bowling attack arguably the best in the tournament. Lasith Malinga’s searing pace and yorkers, Munaf Patel’s tight line and length and well disguised slower ones and Harbhajan’s ability to take wickets with the new ball and comeback in the later innings to put lid on scoring rate makes Mumbai a deadly combination for this format.

Sunday’s encounter with Hyderabad coincides with a special day for Mumbai skipper Sachin as 24th April marks with little master’s birthday. Mumbai team would be upbeat to give their skipper a special birthday gift and there can be no better gift than that of winning against Deccan in their own den.

Some riveting mini-battles are on cards at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium none as fascinating as world’s best fast bowler Dale Steyn bowling to legendary Sachin at his full throttle. Another battle that would catch the attention of fans would be that between Deccan skipper Kumar Sangakkara and his Sri Lankan teammate Lasith Malinga and it would be interesting how Malinga’s former skipper tackles his yorkers and slower ones.

Deccan have been one of the inconsistent teams in the tournament losing three out of five games it played. What has handicapped Deccan is the fact it is yet to put together all three facets of their game as odd good performance with the bat and some good spells from the bowlers here and there is what Deccan has brought to the table.

For Deccan to do well in their home game and stop Mumbai’s charge it will need to have all their big guns in top form and make sure they match Mumbai in fielding effort as well.

HYDERABAD

Players who can make impact…

Dale Steyn…With likes of Sachin and Symonds to bowl against, Steyn will be charged up to do well and win the min-contests. This is where Steyn is at his lethal best when big guns are facing him. Hyderabad wicket offers some bounce and movement to the fast bowlers that should make South African more menacing.Cameron White…Big hitting batsman hasn’t had a productive last six months or so with the bat as he comes into the IPL this season without much runs under his belt. He did spend some time at the crease and hit some big shots in the later stages of his innings in Deccan’s last game against Delhi.If he gets going, there aren’t many who can hit a cricket ball as long as he does.

SQUAD

Akash Bhandari, Amit Mishra, Anand Rajan, Ankit Sharma, Ashish Reddy, Bharat Chipli, Cameron White, Chris Lynn, Dale Steyn, Daniel Christian, DR Teja, Harmeet Singh, Ishan Malhotra, Ishank Jaggi, Ishant Sharma, Jaydev Shah, JP Duminy, Juan Theron, K Sangakkara (c)(wk), Kedar Devdhar, Manpreet Gony, Michael Lumb, Pragyan Ojha, Shikhar Dhawan, Sunny Sohal

MUMBAI

Players who can make impact…

Sachin Tendulkar…With Sunday clash coinciding with his birthday, little master will be keen to give fans a special treat with the bat. And kind of batting form he is in, in all likelihood another big score from Sachin is a possibility. So Deccan, watch out for Sachin special.

Harbhajan Singh…After getting a fifer in the last encounter, Bhajji will be keen to repeat a good show with the ball. With Hyderabad having a couple of left handers in the middle order, off spinner could pose a threat to Deccan batting lienup.

SQUAD

Abu Nechim , Aditya Tare (wk), Aiden Blizzard, Ali Murtaza, Ambati Rayudu, Andrew Symonds, Davy Jacobs, Dhawal Kulkarni, Harbhajan Singh, James Franklin, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Moises Henriques, Munaf Patel, Pawan Suyal, Rajagopal Sathish, Rohit Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar (c), Santosh Yadav, Sarul Kanwar, Tirumalsetti Suman, Yuzvendra Chahal