The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League is finally set to kick off today with a humdinger of a clash between the Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. There has been delays. There has been immense discussion. There has been a great deal of expense. There has been fear. There has been a lot of chaos. At every turn, there has been a challenge and the IPL has come through it.
Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings Match Details
Date : 19th September, 2020
Venue : Sheikh Zayed Stadium, UAE
Time : 7:30 PM IST
Pitch Conditions
The Sheikh Zayed Stadium has hosted 45 T20I matches in the last ten years, where the highest team total has been 225/7. The pitch has been good for batsmen, but the spin bowlers often trouble them on this ground.
The average run rate in T20I games played in Abu Dhabi is 7, which shows that anything above 150 will be a par score. Hong Kong recorded the highest successful run chase at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium by chasing down Afghanistan’s target of 163 runs.
Apart from the spinners, the medium pacers have also achieved much success in Abu Dhabi. UAE’s right-arm medium bowler Rohan Mustafa has scalped 15 wickets in 11 T20Is here, including one four-wicket haul.
Weather Conditions
There is no chance of any rain interruption in the IPL 2020 games that will take place in Abu Dhabi. The weather reports hint that the temperature will stay around 35 degrees Celsius, and the humidity levels will be very high.
Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians isn’t jittery about presence of any cricketer at this stage. They are sitting pretty, they have seen the wicket, they are based out and practicing out of Abu Dhabi only and they are the defending champions.
They have world class seamers like Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mitchell McClenaghan in the squad, but do they have quality spinners will be an aspect to watch out for.
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile/Mitchell McClenaghan, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
Chennai
The news from the Chennai Super Kings camp is – Dwayne Bravo, Imran Tahir and Mitchell Santner had completed six days after their arrival in UAE after taking part in the CPL and are eligible for Saturday’s game.
But both Josh Hazlewood & Sam Curran who arrived on Thursday in Dubai will be missing out in the opening game. Hazlewood and Curran’s participation is unlikely for the opener in because of Abu Dhabi’s strict quarantine protocols.
Probable XI: Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Dwayne Bravo/Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Piyush Chawla, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur
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