Tendulkar holds the key to Mumbai’s fortunes

21 April 2008

Tendulkar’s groin strain has been the most talked-about topic prior to the Mumbai Indians’ opening fixture in the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL). The Mumbai franchise takes on Royal Challengers Bangalore in match five of the IPL at the Wankhede Stadium later today.

Bangalore comes into this clash having suffered a drubbing at the hands of a Sourav Ganguly-led Kolkata Knight Riders on the first day of the tournament. The Royal Challengers suffered a blow on the eve of the match, when Ashley Noffke was ruled out owing to a groin injury. Captain Rahul Dravid confirmed that both Noffke and Anil Kumble would miss out on this tie.

While the batting of the Royal Challengers looked totally out of place, Dravid also needs his bowlers to come up with improved performances. Zaheer Khan, coming back from an injury-layoff seemed to lack rhythm, while the medium pace of Praveen Kumar and Jacques Kallis didn’t seem to have any bite – they need to use variations in length and pace if they hope to taste success in this format of the game.

The likes of Cameron White, who holds a century against his name in the Twenty20 format of the game, and B Akhil, need to fire with both bat and ball, for Bangalore to be considered serious contenders and not pushovers. They need to get their tactics right as well – Sunil Joshi is a capable big-hitting batsman, having four hundreds in First Class cricket, and a strike rate of close to 90 in ODIs, and cannot bat at number eleven as he did in the first match.

For Mumbai, fortunes hinge on Tendulkar’s fitness. The Mumbai Indians’ captain has still not ruled himself out of this clash, and his participation will only be confirmed before the match, but indications are Tendulkar will be part of the action.

Either Sachin Tendulkar, if fit, or Ajinkya Rahane, who has been in prolific form, will in all probability open the batting alongside Sanath Jayasuriya. At 38 years, Jayasuriya can still pack a punch in his shots, and can capably roll his arm over; he has 23 wickets from 14 appearances in Twenty20 matches at a not-so-bad economy rate of 7.30. Robin Uthappa and Gaurav Dhiman, both of who will be playing against Bangalore, from where they hail, will perhaps be used as floaters.

Leading the bowlers pack will be the metronomic Shaun Pollock and the wily off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, both of who have economy rates of less than seven in the shortest version of the game. Dilhara Fernando could possibly share the new ball with Shaun Pollock in the absence of Lasith Malinga.

Action starts at 2000 Hrs local time – be sure to catch live action here.

Duels to look forward to:

Sachin Tendulkar Vs. Zaheer Khan

Rahul Dravid Vs. Harbhajan Singh