IPL 2023, GT vs MI: Mumbai Indians look to sort out bowling anguish in clash versus Gujarat Titans

Their three-game winning streak snapped after a loss to Punjab Kings (PBKS), five-time former champion Mumbai Indians (MI) will look to address its poor death over bowling when it takes on a resurgent defending champion Gujarat Titans (GT) in its 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

After a familiar poor start, MI enjoyed a hat-trick of wins, but their impressive run was cut short by PBKS with a 13-run win on Saturday. Mumbai was let down by its death over bowling as it conceded 96 runs in the final five overs to allow PBKS to post 214/8, and it will have to sort out its bowling ahead of the GT clash.

The pace quartet of Arjun Tendulkar, Jason Behrendorff, Cameron Green and Jofra Archer were put under the pump as they all conceded more than 40 runs in their quota of overs. However, the experienced Piyush Chawla and his spin-bowling colleague Hrithik Shokeen have been on the money as they restricted the flow of runs, with the former snapping two wickets.

CATCH ALL IPL 2023 UPDATES HERE

MI's batting unit has looked formidable, with the top and middle order being among the runs. While Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan have given an excellent start to the team on most occasions, Suryakumar Yadav's return to form is a big positive for MI, who have been served well by the overseas duo of Cameron Green and Tim David.

Green and Suryakumar had almost won MI the match against PBKS with a 36-ball 75-run stand before being done in by Arshdeep Singh's magical overs at the death. Things will be more challenging for the MI batters as the Titans possess a strong bowling attack. Criticised for not being able to defend totals this season, GT showed how to do it with a master class at the death overs to strangle Lucknow Super Giants' (LSG's) chase in its previous match.

The star of GT bowling was comeback man Mohit Sharma, who walked away with the player of the match award after using his variations to telling effect against the Lucknow side. GT was in a dire situation with LSG cruising at 105/1 in 14 overs while chasing 136, but the bowlers, led by Mohit, denied them as he defended 12 runs in the final over.

ALSO READ: IPL 2023 - Ajinkya Rahane reveals how CSK and MS Dhoni's leadership has allowed him to express himself

While Mohit has been a revelation, veteran Mohammed Shami, too, has been among the wickets. However, skipper Hardik Pandya has yet to fire with the ball, having picked up only one wicket so far. Gujarat's spin department looks potent, led by Rashid Khan, with fellow Afghan wrist spinner Noor Ahmad and Jayant Thakur delivering under pressure against LSG.

If Jayant conceded just seven in his last two overs, Noor took two wickets for just five runs in his final two overs to set up the win for GT the other day. GT batters have chased down totals, but they have sometimes been guilty of being unable to push the score in middle overs.

While Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill have scored runs at the top and Hardik top-scored in their last match, GT were about 10-15 runs short against LSG, mainly due to their slow batting in middle overs, something the team will need to address. Also, GT might need to give their top overseas batter David Miller more time in the middle by promoting him up the order.

ALSO WATCH: IPL 2023 - KOHLI BLOWS KISS TO ANUSHKA POST-RCB VICTORY OVER RR; HURTS HIMSELF IN A DANCE-OUT LATER

Squads:
GT: Hardik Pandya (c), Srikar Bharat, Alzarri Joseph, Josh Little, Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Mohammed Shami, Darshan Nalkande, Noor Ahmad, Urvil Patel, Rashid Khan, Wriddhiman Saha, R Sai Kishore, Sai Sudharsan, Pradeep Sangwan, Dasun Shanaka, Vijay Shankar, Mohit Sharma, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Odean Smith, Rahul Tewatia, Matthew Wade, Jayant Yadav and Yash Dayal.
MI: Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Dewald Brevis, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tristan Stubbs, Vishnu Vinod, Cameron Green, Arjun Tendulkar, Ramandeep Singh, Shams Mulani, Riley Meredith Nehal Wadhera, Hrithik Shokeen, Arshad Khan, Duan Jansen, Piyush Chawla, Kumar Kartikeya, Raghav Goyal, Jofra Archer, Jason Behrendorff and Akash Madhwal.

Match details
Date and day: April 24, 2023 (Monday)
Venue: Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad
Time: 7.30 PM (IST)
Where to watch (TV): Star Sports 1 and other Star Sports regional language channels - Also available in HD
Where to watch (Online): JioCinema