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Mumbai Indians, who are in their fourth Indian Premier League final, face Rising Pune Supergiant, who have defeated them three times this season. HT looks at some of the key player battles

ROHIT SHARMA VS STEVE SMITH When in form, Rohit Sharma and Steve Smith can take the game away. MI skipper Rohit has had a modest IPL with 309 runs at an average of 23.76 while Smith has aggregated 421 runs at almost 40. Rohit showed glimpses of his best in Qualifier 2, which will give him confidence. PARTHIV PATEL VS RAHUL TRIPATHI RPS opener Tripathi has provided aggressive starts with a strike rate of around 150, the best being 93 vs KKR. Parthiv Patel has been the lone bright spot in batting for MI. In the last encounter between the sides, Parthiv was the only MI batsman to fight it out, with a fifty. KIERON POLLARD VS MS DHONI Both are renowned finishers, but neither is in good form. The final offers both a chance to make amends. Pollard has played some crucial knocks in the death for MI while Dhoni showed glimpses of his best with a 26-ball 40 that gave RPS a hat-trick of wins over Mumbai Indians. KRUNAL PANDYA VS MANOJ TIWARY They anchor their teams. Pandya has built stands to revive MI while Manoj Tiwary has been the calming influence in the RPS middle order. Tiwary’s stands with Rahane and Dhoni in Qualifier 1 showed his worth. Krunal’s knock got MI over the line against KKR on a difficult pitch. JASPRIT BUMRAH VS JAYDEV UNADKAT Bumrah will eye redemption against RPS after being hit for two sixes by Dhoni in Qualifier 1. In Qualifier 2, he proved his effectiveness at the start too. RPS’ trump card is Jaydev Unadkat, who has struck at the start and at the death, becoming the second-highest wicket-taker (22 in 11 games)