Scores Upcoming Results
11-Apr-2012 02:38:00 GMT
Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals, IPL 2012, Mumbai

Inform Rajasthan Take on Mumbai Indians

Mumbai: Rohit Sharma's last-ball six against Team Hyderabad in Vizag on Monday helped his side score a much-needed win. He and the rest of the Mumbai batting line-up will have to gear up for another tricky battle when they clash against Team Rajasthan at the Wankhede on Wednesday.

Rajasthan's has been one of the most romantic stories in the IPL. They are notorious for springing surprises. The first edition winners, led by Rahul Dravid this season, will test Mumbai once again with their potent mix of gritty home-grown players and crafty foreign talent.

A look at Rajasthan's arsenal gives you the picture. West Indies' Kevon Cooper has become a rage in the fifth edition of the IPL. The little-known Trinidadian has been one of Rajasthan's stars, helping the team pick up wickets at will. Batsmen Ajinkya Rahane and Ashok Menaria are in red-hot form while the wily Aussie T20 war horse, Brad Hodge, can spell trouble for any opponent. And above all, there's Rahul Dravid, a leader of immense integrity and standing.

Rajasthan are on a roll, having won their last two games against Punjab and Kolkata respectively. Their bowling is well balanced. Spinners Johan Botha and Cooper will enjoy bowling on a Wankhede pitch that offered generous turn in the last match between Team Mumbai and Pune.

As for Mumbai, this match gives them the opportunity to register their maiden IPL-V victory at home. A star-studded side will count for nothing if they fail to win consistently. A bad defeat against Pune crushed their morale till Rohit Sharma's heroics staved off another loss on Monday.

Mumbai have some big hitters, but their over-dependence on Sachin Tendulkar has been their undoing in the past. Even in their last home game against Pune, the Mumbai batters fluffed their lines chasing a modest 130.

The Master Blaster missed the last two games due to a finger injury so Mumbai would be desperate to get him back on Wednesday. Harbhajan Singh, who is full of spunk at the helm, has rued the consistent batting failures. Be it Kieron Pollard, Rohit Sharma, Richard Levi or James Franklin, more than one batsman has to fire on a pitch that can at best be described as tricky.

Teams from

Mumbai Indians
Harbhajan Singh (captain), AN Ahmed, Amitoze Singh, AC Blizzard, YS Chahal, JEC Franklin, HH Gibbs, DJ Jacobs, MG Johnson, KD Karthik (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, DS Kulkarni, RE Levi, CJ McKay, SL Malinga, SH Marathe, SS Nayak, PP Ojha, MM Patel, NLTC Perera, RJ Peterson, KA Pollard, AT Rayudu, JN Shah, RG Sharma, R Shukla, RP Singh, TL Suman, P Suyal, AP Tare, SR Tendulkar, AV Wankhade, SA Yadav

Rajasthan Royals R Dravid (captain), STR Binny, J Botha, DL Chahar, LD Chandimal, AA Chavan, A Chopra, PD Collingwood, K Cooper, AP Dole, SM Fallah, FY Fazal, SP Goswami (wk), BJ Hodge, GB Hogg, AL Menaria, S Narwal, Pankaj Singh, AG Paunikar, AM Rahane, AS Raut, OA Shah, PR Shah, A Singh, S Sreesanth, SW Tait, SK Trivedi, SR Watson, DH Yagnik

Stats and trivia

  • Not only is Lasith Malinga the leading wicket-taker in the IPL, he also has the third-best economy-rate, 6.28
  • Royals have a win-loss ratio of 2.83 at home, by far the best for IPL teams.

Match facts
Wednesday April 11, 2012 (day/night)
Start time 20:00 local (14:30 GMT)


Scores Upcoming Results
Related links

Top