Mumbai look to salvage pride against Punjab

Indians are languishing at the bottom of the points table

Three-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Mumbai Indians will look to salvage pride when they face a spirited Kings XI Punjab at the Holkar Cricket Stadium today.

The star-studded Mumbai side are languishing at the bottom of the points table with just two wins from eight games.

On the other side, Punjab will be flying high on confidence after being placed third with five wins from seven games and 10 points in their kitty.

Mumbai’s batters, including skipper Rohit Sharma, have failed miserably in this year’s league.

For Rohit’s side, except Suryakumar Yadav, who has 283 runs under his belt in eight matches as an opener, all others have been inconsistent.

The Mumbai skipper also needs to rediscover his own form as he has struggled to get past 20 in six games.

Big hitting West Indian allrounder Kieron Pollard, in his twilight years, has also been out of touch with just 76 runs from six innings.

Lusty blows

South African Jean-Paul Duminy has featured in just a couple of games and played a single innings hitting 23 runs.

Coming to the Pandya brothers Hardik and Krunal, both showed glimpses of their batting prowess in the previous match Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and will aim to bolster the lower order with some lusty blows.

In the bowling department, Mumbai will once again bank on young spinner Mayank Markande. The pace duo of Jasprit Bumrah, Mitchell McClenaghan have kept things tight while the Pandya brothers have also been among the wickets.

On the other hand, Punjab openers Lokesh Rahul and Chris Gayle have been a major reason behind their success. Karun Nair has also been impressive after 186 runs from six innings but veteran Yuvraj Singh, Aaron Finch and Mayank Agarwal are yet to make their presence felt in the middle.

In the bowling department, skipper Ravichandran Ashwin, along with medium pacer Mohit Sharma add depth to the line-up.