Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings will kickstart the UAE leg of IPL 2021. Both teams will meet at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on September 19th. While CSK is at No.2 on the points table, MI are at No.4. In this article, we take a look at the CSK and Mumbai Indians predicted playing XI for the first encounter of IPL 2021.
CSK predicted playing XI
Whenever there is a CSK, and Mumbai Indians predicted playing XI discussion for a game between the two franchises, a lot of matchups go into consideration. Both teams have brilliant captains, and hence, the teams could sometimes line up according to the opposition.
CSK is unlikely to have both Faf du Plessis and Sam Curran for the first encounter. While Curran is unavailable, Faf is recovering from an injury, and CSK might not risk playing him. Dwayne Bravo played a game a few days ago, and hence, MS Dhoni and co. might prefer Josh Hazlewood in the XI. Robin Uthappa will be the natural replacement for Faf. There could be a toss-up between Imran Tahir and Lungi Ngidi based on the conditions. The rest of the XI is likely to be similar to the one in the first phase.
Playing XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Robin Uthappa, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (C&WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood, and Imran Tahir.
MI predicted playing XI
Mumbai Indians have a settled unit and will be favourites for the encounter. The opening combination will remain untouched. Although the middle-order was underwhelming in phase 1, the management will back the players who have won them two trophies in the last two seasons.
On the bowling front, either Nathan Coulter-Nile or Marco Jansen will be part of the XI. If Rohit Sharma decides he needs an extra spinner, Jayant Yadav will come in as the eighth Indian in the XI. Bumrah, Rahul, Boult and Krunal will form the core of the bowling attack. It will be interesting to see if Hardik Pandya will roll his arm over on September 19th.
Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (C), Quinton de Kock (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult.
