Rishabh Pant’s brilliant batting form and inspiring leadership resurrected Delhi Capitals will look to continue their upward match in the points table. They will face the inconsistent Mumbai Indians in New Delhi on April 27, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

They both hail from the same state. They are friends since their age-group days. Donning different shades of blue, they have stood with their craft with the ball in an IPL dominated by towering totals.

No wonder then that the economy rate of all-rounder Axar Patel and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah could well be decisive in the key clash between host Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

After the 41st league match, Bumrah (6.37 runs per over in 32 overs) tops the list of best economy rate for bowlers with at least 10 overs this season, Axar is placed third in the list (7.06 runs in 31 overs).

Against a batting line-up full of power-hitters, the Gujarat duo will be looking forward to repeat the heroics performed at the Wankhede Stadium done earlier in the month.

Considering that both the teams are still languishing in the bottom half of the points table, a loss on Saturday could well push them into a must-win position for the remaining phase.

While the Capitals — with veterans David Warner and Ishant Sharma being unavailable due to fitness issues — will hope to carry on the momentum from Wednesday night’s win, Hardik and Co. will be keen on switching gears with time running out.

Barring Bumrah, the remaining bowling unit has been a huge concern. With an on-song Rishabh and Axar on fire with the willow along with Jake Fraser-McGurk’s range-hitting, captain Hardik will be banking on his bowling group to deliver against the odds.

The teams

Delhi Capitals: Rishabh Pant (c), David Warner, Abishek Porel, Ricky Bhui, Yash Dhull, Shai Hope, Prithvi Shaw, Tristan Stubbs, Kumar Kushagra, Swastik Chikara, Ishant Sharma, Jhye Richardson, Rasikh Dar Salam, Vicky Ostwal, Anrich Nortje, Mukesh Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Praveen Dubey, Khaleel Ahmed, Sumit Kumar, Axar Patel, Gulbadin Naib, Lalit Yadav, Jake Fraser-McGurk.

Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Dewald Brevis, Jasprit Bumrah, Piyush Chawla, Gerald Coetzee, Tim David, Shreyas Gopal, Ishan Kishan (wk), Anshul Kamboj, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal, Kwena Maphaka, Mohammad Nabi, Shams Mulani, Naman Dhir, Shivalik Sharma, Romario Shepherd, Arjun Tendulkar, Nuwan Thushara, Tilak Varma, Harvik Desai, Nehal Wadhera, Luke Wood.

Match starts 3.30pm IST.

File photo of Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya.
| Photo Credit: AP

Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya on April 2 asserted that the former champions will not give up and will continue to fight in the ongoing IPL despite slumping to a hat-trick of defeats.

“If there’s one thing you should know about this team, we never give up. We’ll keep fighting, we’ll keep going,” Hardik posted on X.

Hardik has been facing the ire of fans since replacing Rohit Sharma as Mumbai Indians captain. The all-rounder was booed in the team’s opening two matches and the crowd hostility was at its peak in MI’s first home game of the season on Monday.

To add to the woes, under his captaincy MI’s campaign at the 2024 IPL got off to a disastrous start as they sit at the bottom of the table following three losses on the trot.

However, MI are known to be perennial slow starters. In 2015, they lost the first four games before going on to win the title.

Hardik’s poor captaincy calls have also been questioned — whether it was not giving Bumrah the new ball or sending Tim David ahead of himself against Gujarat Titans.

The change in captaincy has not sat well with the legions of MI supporters. On Monday, chants of ‘Rohit Rohit’ filled the Wankhede with the Indian captain himself asking the crowd not to jeer Hardik.

Mumbai Indians will next face Delhi Capitals at home on Sunday.