Big picture: Two teams running out of time
Before the start of IPL 2026, many experts rated Mumbai Indians (MI) among the stronger sides for this season. They started emphatically, chasing down 221 against Kolkata Knight Riders with five balls to spare. It was the first time since 2012 that MI won their first match of an IPL season. All that is a distant memory now as they find themselves at No. 9 on the points table with just two wins from nine games and their playoff hopes hanging by the thinnest of threads.
Rohit took a fitness test on the eve of the match and also batted in the nets. If he’s available, it will be a big boost for MI, but qualifying for the playoffs looks like a Herculean task even by their own standards.
Their opponents for Monday’s game at the Wankhede Stadium are Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), and they too are in a similar situation. They started the season by winning two of their first three games but are now on a five-match losing streak. While the LSG seamers have been among the best in the tournament, their batters have struggled – none more so than Nicholas Pooran. Moved down from his usual No. 3 spot, Pooran has scored just 82 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 81.18.
LSG do have Josh Inglis available now but it will require a collective effort from the batting unit if they are to stay alive in the competition.
Mumbai Indians LLLWL (last five matches, most recent first)
Lucknow Super Giants LLLLL
Team news: Inglis likely to play
If Rohit is available, he will most likely replace Robin Minz and open alongside Ryan Rickelton. In that case, Will Jacks will move down the order. Shardul Thakur could also come in for Krish Bhagat, who has failed to impress so far.
Mumbai Indians (probable): 1 Will Jacks, 2 Ryan Rickelton (wk), 3 Naman Dhir, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Hardik Pandya (capt), 7 Robin Minz, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Trent Boult, 10 AM Ghazanfar, 11 Jasprit Bumrah, 12 Raghu Sharma
Inglis is expected to play his first match of the season. If LSG play both him and Pooran, George Linde will have to miss out.
Lucknow Super Giants (probable): 1 Mitchell Marsh, 2 Aiden Markram, 3 Rishabh Pant (capt, wk), 4 Josh Inglis/Nicholas Pooran, 5 Ayush Badoni, 6 Himmat Singh, 7 Mukul Choudhary, 8 George Linde, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Prince Yadav, 11 Digvesh Rathi, 12 Mohsin Khan
In the spotlight: Naman Dhir and Mohsin Khan
Tilak Varma’s lean run gave Naman Dhir an opportunity to bat up the order, and he has not let his team down. Batting at Nos. 3 and 4, he has scored two fifties and a 45 in five innings. In all, his 233 runs, at a strike rate of 147.46, are the second-most for MI, behind Rickelton’s 297. But both Dhir and MI know his ceiling is much higher.
It looks like finally Mohsin Khan has put all the injury concerns behind him. While he has played only four games so far this season, his nine wickets are second only to Prince Yadav’s 13 from eight games for LSG. Not just that, Mohsin’s economy rate of 6.37 is the best for any bowler in the league who has bowled at least five overs. While the results have not gone LSG’s way, Mohsin has been a big positive.
The match will be played on pitch no. 4. This track has been used only once so far this season. In that game, Punjab Kings chased down MI’s 195 for 6 with seven wickets and 21 balls in hand. Expect another high-scoring game on Monday as well. The temperature is expected to hover around 30°Celsius with 72% humidity in the evening after touching 35° during the day. It is very humid in Mumbai but there is no chance of rain.
“We have still got five more games. Anything can happen for us. We just need to finish the tournament positively and see what happens. There is a lot more cricket to be played. I don’t think mathematically out of the tournament. So I am going to fight and I am sure the rest of the boys will do the same as well.”
MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene
“Sometimes when things don’t go your way and you keep playing, it is difficult to reflect and see where you have gone wrong. Hindsight is always the best coach, the best teacher – there are valuable lessons to be learned from that. That is exactly what the team has done [during the break]. Hopefully, we will be back to our old playing ways.”
LSG bowling coach B Arun on the team’s form
Source link
dailynewsnblog
