Ahmedabad. The Mumbai Indians team, which is starting the new season of the Indian Premier League with a new captain, will play against Gujarat Titans in the first match. Hardik Pandya will captain Mumbai Indians for the first time in the Indian Premier League (IPL) against his former team Gujarat Titans on Sunday. His aim will be to carry forward the legacy of his predecessor Rohit Sharma.
Under the leadership of Hardik, Titans won the title in its debut season itself whereas last time it was the runner-up. However, this all-rounder joined Mumbai again this season where he has been appointed captain in place of Rohit. Along with this, Hardik will play in some tournament after getting injured in the ODI World Cup. Keeping in mind the T20 World Cup to be held in America and West Indies in June, everyone’s eyes will be on Hardik’s performance in both batting and bowling departments.
Titans have appointed Shubman Gill as their captain in place of Hardik, who has very little captaincy experience. Mumbai team is struggling with fitness related issues. Its star batsman Suryakumar Yadav has not yet received permission to play. Left-arm fast bowlers Jason Behrendorff and Dilshan Madushanka have already been ruled out of the IPL, while new player Gerald Coetzee is also recovering from a muscle strain and may miss the initial few matches.
Rohit Sharma, who led Mumbai to five titles, will play as a pure batsman this season and he would like to achieve his best form before the World Cup. Everyone will also keep an eye on the performance of another Mumbai player Ishan Kishan. He had to lose the BCCI central contract due to not following the guidelines of the Indian Cricket Board for playing domestic cricket and now he will be desperate to prove himself.
Apart from Hardik, Mumbai has good all-rounder options in the form of Mohammad Nabi and Romario Shepherd. As far as Titans are concerned, it will be a challenge for Gill to maintain the consistency of the team in the last two seasons. Gill is also being seen as the future captain of India but before that he will have to prove himself in the IPL.
Gill was among the highest run-scorers in the last season and his team would be hoping that the responsibility of captaincy does not have an adverse effect on his batting. The Titans will miss Indian fast bowler Mohammed Shami who will not be able to play in the tournament due to a heel operation. However, the good news for him is that Afghanistan’s star spinner Rashid Khan is making a comeback after recovering from a back injury.
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Tags: Gujarat Titans, Hardik Pandya, IPL 2024, mumbai indians, shubman gill
FIRST PUBLISHED: March 23, 2024, 15:36 IST