Mumbai Indians would be facing Rajasthan Royals in the 9th match of the Indian Premier League 2015, which will be played at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad. Under normal circumstances, Mumbai would have gone into the match as favourites since, on paper, they are definitely a more gifted side than Rajasthan. But, the fact is that Rajasthan have won both the matches in the IPL this season while Mumbai have lost both. As such, Mumbai would not head into the game high on confidence. It will give Rajasthan a great opportunity to prey on Mumbai's lack of self-belief at present, and try to clinch their third victory in a row.
Rajasthan have a habit of making heroes out of unknown names. Something similar happened in the game against Delhi Daredevils. Rajasthan seemed down and out when Deepak Hooda came in and played a blinder. The 19-year-old has been a real good find as he contributed significantly in the win against Kings XI Punjab as well. Ajinkya Rahane's form also augurs well for Rajasthan since they depend heavily on him at the top of the order. What they would however like is better contributions from the likes of Sanju Samson and Stuart Binny, who haven't fired till now. Steven Smith has looked got, but he too hasn't got the big score yet.
Like their batting, Rajasthan have scope for improvement in the bowling as well. James Faulkner was the star in the opening game, but he wasn't as effective against Delhi. In fact, all the bowlers, including Pravin Tambe, Tim Southee and Chris Morris were ineffective. With the status of Shane Watson still not clear, Rajasthan would definitely be pondering upon the bowling attack. They are very much aware that Mumbai's batting is capable of bouncing back anytime in spite of their poor recent form.
Shifting focus to Mumbai, they have a lot of work to do following disappointing losses to Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab. Their batting let them down in both games. Although Rohit Sharma got 98 against KKR, there wasn't much support for him. And when he fell early against Punjab, they simply crumbled. Their early performance is an indication that they are heavily dependent on their skipper. To change that perception, the likes of Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu and Aditya Tare must fire. Their failures have been primarily responsible for Mumbai's underperformance so far.
Mumbai's bowling too needs to show some tooth. Harbhajan Singh came up with a very good bowling effort against Punjab to go with his batting, but Lasith Malinga is yet to look the threat that he can be though he claimed a couple of scalps in the last game. The others like Pawan Suyal and Corey Anderson will also need to lift their games. There are definite concerns for Mumbai, and although these are still early days in the tournament, losing three out of three will definitely make their campaign tricky.
--By A Cricket Analyst
