Delhi Capitals (DC) have their fortunes in their own hands when they face Mumbai Indians (MI) in what will be a virtual Indian Premier League do-or-die clash for skipper Rishabh Pant's men at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday, May 20. DC have everything to play for against a team that will most likely experiment with their players for the future and will want to finish the season on a winning note.
Many fans have been calling for the inclusion of legendary star Sachin Tendulkar's son Arjun Tendulkar into the team. Incase of Mumbai, the only area of interest is whether legendary Sachin Tendulkar's son Arjun finally gets a game after having warmed the bench for 27 straight games across two seasons. Skipper Rohit Sharma has earlier spoken about how he would like to prepare for the future by playing some new players in the final game.
The equation is as simple as it can get for the Capitals (+0.255) as they simply need to beat Mumbai Indians to pip Royal Challengers Bangalore (-0.253) on a better Net Run Rate.
While MI have endured their worst season this time, the Capitals have been guilty of inconsistency with seven wins and six defeats in their 13 games. In fact, it was their victory over RCB in the previous game that ensured that they won back-to-back matches for the first time this season.
Opener David Warner (427 runs), Mitchell Marsh (251 runs), and Rovman Powell (207 runs) have been their go-to batters this season. Spinners Kuldeep Yadav (20 wickets, 8.45), Axar Patel (6 wickets, 7.37), and Lalit Yadav (4 wickets, 8.33) have also done a decent job with the ball in a number of games.
However, there are two areas where the Capitals have floundered this season. One has been their pace department which has been patchy at best this season. Khaleel Ahmed (16 wickets at 8.08) and Shardul Thakur despite his 13 wickets have conceded runs at more than nine runs per over.
Meanwhile, skipper Pant's (301 runs) inability to convert his good starts into big scores will be a major cause for concern.
Mumbai Indians
Rohit Sharma (c), Anmolpreet Singh, Rahul Buddhi, Ramandeep Singh, SuryakumarYadav, Tilak Verma, Tim David, Arjun Tendulkar, Basil Thampi, Hrithik Shokeen, Jasprit Bumrah, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Murugan Ashwin, Riley Meredith, Tymal Mills, Kartikeya Singh, Daniel Sams, Dewald Brevis, Fabian Allen, Kieron Pollard, Sanjay Yadav, Aryan Juyal and Ishan Kishan.
Delhi Capitals
Delhi Capitals: Rishabh Pant (C), Ashwin Hebbar, David Warner, Mandeep Singh, Prithvi Shaw,Rovman Powell, Anrich Nortje, Chetan Sakariya, Khaleel Ahmed, Kuldeep Yadav, Lungi Ngidi, Mustafizur Rahman, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Kamlesh Nagarkoti,Lalit Yadav, Mitchell Marsh, Pravin Dubey, Ripal Patel, Sarfaraz Khan, Vicky Ostwal, Yash Dhull, KS Bharat and Tim Seifert.