MI, SRH eye springboard for revival

The contest is being hyped as Sharma vs Sharma, but that may be a bit of a lame duck promotion. One Sharma has been underwhelming, the other has been hot and cold - more cold than hot in fact, notwithstanding his century in the last innings. So Rohit Sharma versus Abhishek Sharma is hardly a face-off - whether measured by current form, overall impact, or contribution to the league. Take your pick.

A more appropriate billing for the buildup to the Mumbai Indians versus Sunrisers Hyderabad clash of Thursday night might be about the much-debated point of the season - will the IPL finally witness a 300-run innings? The answer is: it's eminently possible but... "It's cricket. I will not stick my neck out. You must have noticed last night. Even 100 (111) could be defended," remarked Naman Dhir of Mumbai Indians, a hard-hitting batter himself.

Given the nature of the pitch, and the smaller boundaries of the Wankhede, and above all the presence of explosive batters on both sides, there will clearly be a runfest in Mumbai on Thursday (April 17) night, whether or not the 300-run mark is breached.

A Sharma opening the innings for either side isn't the only common factor between the teams. Both Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad are coming from poor starts to the season, having recorded thrilling wins in their last outings - MI edging past Delhi in a dramatic finish, and SRH overpowering Punjab Kings in an equally exciting contest. It is widely predicted that one of these two sides will be in the last four eventually and if that were to happen, a win on Thursday is very crucial.

"One win can catapult you up the team and then you can get on the roll and there's trust within the playing group that both teams are very good sides and can win on their day," Daniel Vettori, the head coach of SRH, said opining on the game.

Returning to the Sharma vs Sharma narrative, expectations will naturally rest heavily on Senior Sharma. Rohit has yet to fire as anticipated this season, but Thursday might just be his night. On the other side, Abhishek will undoubtedly be one of the key attractions - alongside his swashbuckling opening partner, Travis Head. Their face-off against Jasprit Bumrah could be one of the defining battles of the game. For the record, it was at this very venue that Abhishek registered his highest international score (135 off 54 balls against England) in February.

When: Thursday, April 17 at 7:30 PM IST

Where: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

What to expect: A bit of dew, a lot of runs and an exciting contest. Both teams are coming off a win in their respective last games and will be keen to build on that momentum. How Abhishek and Head will handle Bumrah is a key factor in the contest as much as about whether Rohit will get back among serious runs.

Head to head: It's 13-10 in favour of MI in overall face-offs, and at the venue, MI have dominated SRH, 6-2. MI have won eight of the 11 contests between the teams since 2019. Since 2022, their head to head record is 3-2, again in favour of MI.

Team Watch

Mumbai Indians

Injuries/Availability: There is no news of any injury to any player.

Tactics & Matchups: Rohit has not survived the Powerplay in each of the five innings he batted so far. Only de Kock (six times) has been dismissed more often than Rohit in this phase. What's more, the India captain will be up against two bowlers - Pat Cummins and Mohammed Shami - who have had the upper hand against him in T20s. Both are off-boil so far this season and it will be a good opportunity for Rohit to roar back into form and set the record straight.

Probable XII: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Will Jacks, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Karn Sharma

SunRisers Hyderabad

Injuries/Availability: No news of any injury to any player. One who was injured, Adam Zampa, has been replaced.

Tactics & Matchups: Since marking his SRH debut with a whirlwind 47-ball unbeaten 106, Ishan Kishan's form has tapered off - with 30 runs in five innings since. Having spent seven years with MI, he knows both the conditions and the opposition well. He could be one to watch. "Obviously we would be foolish not to tap into some of that knowledge and understanding around the Mumbai mentality. He's a wealth of knowledge for myself and the rest of the coaches for this time," Vettori said. Harshal Patel enjoys a good H2H record over Rohit and Hardik, both of whom he has dismissed thrice in T20s off 29 and 13 balls respectively.

Probable XII: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Aniket Verma, Pat Cummins (c), Harshal Patel, Zeeshan Ansari, Mohammed Shami, Eshan Malinga, Jaydev Unadkat

Did you know?

- MI have taken the most wickets (47) despite playing one game fewer than three other sides and have the second best average and best SR. SRH, on the other hand, have the lowest wickets/match ratio, worst average and ER.

- Karn Sharma's 3/36 in his first match of the season gave him only his second POTM award in IPL - the last one also coming when he represented MI in 2017.

- Trent Boult will be up against three LHB - Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Ishan Kishan - at the top, two of whom have scored under a run a ball against him in T20s.

- Abhishek Sharma now has seven 100s in T20 cricket - six of those scored since Jan 2023 - the third most for India in the format behind Kohli and Rohit.

What they said:

"Whenever we bring the bat from the factory, we check it before going into the match. So, this doesn't go into our minds." - MI batter Naman Dhir on umpires checking the bat size.

"I wish they'd checked the bats when I was playing." - SRH coach Daniel Vettori on the same subject