DC vs MI Preview: Indian Premier League , Match 02

Mumbai Indians retained their four key players ahead of the auction: Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, and Kieron Pollard. And during the auction, they bought many strong players like Jofra Archer, Ishan Kishan, Dewald Brewis, Tymal Mills, to name a few. The previous season was disappointing for Mumbai Indians as they failed to make up for even play-offs. But they will try to make up for it in this season. They no longer have the famed all-rounder duo of Pandya brothers with them. Fans are excited to see the Bumrah-Archer duo in the fast bowling department after the franchise failed to retain Trent Boult as Jasprit Bumrah's compliance. Their most expensive buy, Ishan Kishan, will open with the captain. The middle-order has Kieron Pollard, and Tim David followed by death over bowlers like Tymal Mills, Jofra Archer and Jasprit Bumrah. They have concerns about the spin attack and the absence of Surya Kumar Yadav.

On the other hand, Rishabh Pant led Delhi Capitals will be missing many of its biggest overseas stars. They were one of the strongest on-paper teams from the last few seasons but had to let go of many of its players like Shreyas Iyer, Kagiso Rabada, Avesh Khan, Shikhar Dhawan before mega-auctions. They tried to build a balanced squad this year. Their key buys like David Warner, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Marsh will miss a few matches. They have Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant in batsman and bowlers like Shardul Thakur, Mustafizur Rahman and Axar Patel to add strength in bowling. ABsence of these players in the opening match, gives advantage to Mumbai Indians. Domestic talent like Sarfaraz Khan, Ripal Patel and India's U-19 World Cup winning captain Yash Dhull might get the opportunity in such scenarios.

Pitch Report

The match will be played at the surface of Brabourne Stadium. The wicket has been sporting for both batters and bowlers. The stadium has shorter boundaries so that big-hitters will see it as an advantage. The dew factor will play a crucial role as the match progresses.

Possible Playing XI

Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, Tim Seifert, KS Bharat, Rishabh Pant (c, wk), Rovman Powell, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Chetan Sakariya

Mumbai Indians: Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Tilak Varma, Anmolpreet Singh, Kieron Pollard, Tim David, Sanjay Yadav, Tymal Mills, Jaydev Unadkat, M Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah

Stats to keep an eye on

• Bumrah has dismissed Pant the most times in T20s - six in 12 innings. 
• Mumbai Indians won their opening game of any IPL season in 2012
• Fast bowlers have picked up more than 75% of the wickets at this venue - Mumbai's Brabourne Stadium - in the IPL
• Axar Patel needs to strike five more times totally 100 wickets in the IPL

A repeat of the IPL 2020 final?

Though Mumbai Indians have always edged a little over Delhi Capitals, the latter has done exceedingly well in the recent past. Both the sides have solid top orders, enviable fast-bowling depth and a number of Under-19 stars in their squads to groom. It will be interesting to see if Rishabh Pant led Delhi Capital to be able to overpower Mumbai Indians in their opening match.