It seems like the demons from the last year haven’t left Mumbai Indians, who suffered an 8-wicket thrashing at the hands of Royal Challengers Bangalore in their opening game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. It was a horrendous outing for the five-time champions as they batted and bowled extremely poorly to mark their 11th successive loss in the first game of the IPL since 2013.
Asked to bat first, it was a dreadful start for them as they lost wickets in quick succession and were tumbling at 48/4. Tilak Varma yet again came to the rescue as he played a gritty knock of unbeaten 84 runs and guided his to a total of 171 runs, which at one moment seemed impossible. With something to fight on, it was expected that MI would keep things tight. But this didn’t go their way as they were taken to the cleaners and suffered an 8-wicket loss.
Two Changes Mumbai Indians can make for their next game against Chennai Super Kings after the massive loss against RCB
Mumbai Indians is now slated to play against their arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings in their next game of the IPL 2023. They would be hoping to continue their dominance over the MS Dhoni-led side and would want to stage a comeback after a poor loss in the first game. It wasn’t a great outing for them against RCB and it is likely that they can make a few changes to their lineup for the next game. Let’s take a look at Two Changes Mumbai Indians can make for their next game against Chennai Super Kings after a massive loss against RCB:
1. Kumar Kartikeya in place of Hrithik Shokeen
Mystery spinner Spinner Kumar Kartikeya impressed many with his variations last year. He was a late addition to the Mumbai Indians squad but he looked settled in the few games he played. It was expected that he would start in the XI for the first game itself. But this didn’t happen as Hrithik Shokeen got a nod ahead of him. The off-spinner was taken to cleaners in the only over he bowled as he conceded 17 runs and also managed just 5 runs with the bat. In his place, Mumbai can bring Kumar Kartikeya in the second game against CSK as he can be a great supper to veteran Piyush Chawla. He so far has taken 5 wickets in 4 games he has played.
Read Also: IPL 2023: Ranking All IPL 10 Teams Based on Their Potential set of All–rounders
2. Sandeep Warrier in place of Arshad Khan
Arshad Khan was on his debut in the game against RCB. But things didn’t go the way as he would’ve liked. He was taken to runs in his first few overs and was under pressure. Although he took the wicket of Faf du Plessis, but his economy was concerning. He conceded 28 runs in just 2.2 overs. Therefore the team can look to replace him with experienced Sandeep Warrier, who was named Jasprit Bumrah’s replacement. Warrier was with KKR in the last few seasons and bowled decently well. Also, his pace could be handy for MI on the Wankhede pitch and can trouble batters.
Probable Mumbai Indians Playing 11 for their second match against Chennai Super Kings
Apart from these two changes, it’s unlikely that Mumbai Indians will make any changes to their team. Let’s take a look at Probable Mumbai Indians Playing 11 for their second match against Chennai Super Kings.
Rohit Sharma (c)
Ishan Kishan (Wk)
Cameron Green
Suryakumar Yadav
Tilak Varma
Tim David
Nehal Wadhera
Kumar Kartikeya
Piyush Chawla
Jofra Archer
Sandeep Warrier
Here’s Mumbai Indians squad for the IPL 2023
Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Cameron Green, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Hrithik Shokeen, Piyush Chawla, Jofra Archer, Arshad Khan, Dewald Brevis, Ramandeep Singh, Tristan Stubbs, Shams Mulani, Kumar Kartikeya, Arjun Tendulkar, Jason Behrendorff, Sandeep Warrier, Akash Madhwal, Duan Jansen, Vishnu Vinod, Raghav Goyal.
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