MI would go into the game against LSG very low on confidence. Both their batting and bowling will be under pressure. Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan haven’t delivered in the last few games. As a result, there has been too much pressure on the middle-order.
Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma have been excellent for Mumbai in the second half. However, the lack of runs from Kieron Pollard and the weakness in the lower-order is hampering their progress. Dewald Brevis played a brilliant knock for Mumbai against PBKS to give them hope. In the bowling, Jaydev Unadkat, Murugan Ashwin and Basil Thampi will need to take some of the pressure off Jasprit Bumrah.
MI Predicted XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Kieron Pollard, Fabien Allen, Jaydev Unadkat, Murugan Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Basil Thampi
Lucknow have done well to win three of their five matches so far. However, their strategy to hold back Marcus Stoinis till the very end backfired as they narrowly failed in a chase against RR. They had an off-day with the bat against Rajasthan. But with quality players like KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock and Jason Holder, they should be confident of putting up a good show.
Their bowling is looking highly impressive. Avesh Khan and Ravi Bishnoi have been the chief contributors while Dushmantha Chameera, Krishnappa Gowtham, Holder and Krunal Pandya have all chipped in.
LSG Predicted XI: KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Jason Holder, Krishnappa Gowtham, Dushmantha Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan
Top fantasy picks for MI vs LSG clash: Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis, Avesh Khan
--Renin Wilben Albert