Winless Kochi take on favorites Mumbai (Preview)

If one goes through the squads of both Mumbai and latest entrants Kochi, Friday’s encounter between the two sides can’t be termed as David versus Goliath clash. However, way Sachin Tendulkar led Mumbai is playing one is forced to dub the encounter as such.

Mumbai side by far the best team of this edition has been ruthless and professional in the two they played.

Every aspect of their game looks to be intact with their bowling lineup best in the tournament.

Lasith Malinga has been no less than a revelation with toe crushing yorkers of his hard for opposite batsmen to pick only see their stumps shattered.

He is being well complemented by likes of Munaf Patel, Harbhajan Singh and Kieran Pollard who have been miserly not letting batsmen to score freely.

Sachin has been, as usual, scoring runs as only he can and led the side with all the calm and composure that rubbed on to other players as well.

Such has been the class and power of the batting lineup only openers; Ambati Rayudu and Rohit Sharma were needed to finish the job.

There is no place for big Andrew Symonds in this team and likes of Pollard are yet to be tested.

It can destroy any bowling lineup in the tournament with local recruits like Rohit Sharma and Rayudu having all ingredients to become batting greats in the future.

Fielding has been sharp and energy levels of the players on the field is what make this team a champion material.

They will be up against newcomers Kochi who have been struggling to eke out a win from winnable positions.

Kochi problems lie in the fact that they have poor at crucial stages of the game in past two games and top order has surrendered meekly leaving rearguard action for lower order.

That has only contributed to scores posted in the end being less than what could have achieved.

The fast bowling duo of local boy Sreesanth and RP Singh have been very poor conceding too many runs with the new ball and their comeback spells haven’t been any different either.

Muthaih Muralitharan was nowhere near his best in first two games being negotiated easily by batsmen and has given away too many runs for team’s comfort.

Skipper Mahela Jayawardene hasn’t looked the batsmen he actually is as he has got out twice to a reckless stroke that has cost team dearly.

He needs to lead from the front and need of the hour is to put some runs on the board to give his side solidity in the middle order.

For Kochi to get to winning ways, top order comprising Brendon McCullum and VVS Laxman need to fire and one of them should ideally bat deep into the innings.

It will be fascinating to see battle between Malinga and Kochi batsmen and there will be another duel that would feature two legends of the game, Sachin and Murali.

All said and done, Mumbai will go into this match played at their home ground as hot favorites and Kochi’s win could well be bracketed as a upset.

MUMBAI

Players who can make impact…

Sachin Tendulkar…A good batsman is always a good batsman irrespective of format he is playing.

Master batsman Sachin Tendulkar is proving that. Format doesn’t matter him as he plays all of them with same intensity hitting bowlers off target.

After seeing him bat in two matches, one can conclude he has decided to anchor the innings and big hitters in the team can go after the bowling.

Munaf Patel…He may not have the pace and variations like that of Malinga but he bowls well within himself to keep batsmen quiet and get an odd wicket for the team.

He changes his pace without giving much away and outguesses batsmen when they are on the charge.

He has a right man to hone his skills in Shaun Pollock who will pass on his express to make him a better bowler.

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

KOCHI

Players who can make impact…

Mahela Jayawardene…The stylish left hander for Sri Lanka is a busy player at the crease and that what this format needs.

He will be keen to lead from the front and absorb pressure himself giving youngsters space to express themselves.

Captain is very cool when the chips are down and that is exactly what Kochi’s condition is at the moment.

He would like to bat through the innings and hold one end up.

Ravindra Jadeja…Discarded from Indian team after a string of poor performances; the talented all-rounder seems to have made up his mind that he is going to use IPL opportunity to make a comeback into the national side.

His two outing has been fruitful for him with the bat and has been electric in the field. His late order cameos make his presence in the team crucial one and his tight left arm spin add extra dimension to his game.

SQUAD

B McCullum, Balachandra Akhil, Brad Hodge, Chandan Madan, Deepak Chougule, Gnaneswara Rao, John Hastings, Kedar Jadhav, M Jayawardene (c), Michael Klinger, Muttiah Muralitharan, Owais Shah, P Padmanabhan, Parthiv Patel (wk), Raiphi Gomez, Ramesh Powar, Ravindra Jadeja, RP Singh, S Sreesanth, Steve O'Keefe, Steven Smith, Sushant Marathe, Tanmay Srivastava, Thissara Perera, Vinay Kumar,VVS Laxman, Yashpal Singh