The Indian Premier League is set to kick off with reigning champions locking horns against two-time Indian Premier League winners Chennai Super Kings. Rohit Sharma would be looking to begin his title defence with a win against a team that has never failed to reach semifinals/playoffs of the tournament.

Mumbai Indians

For the Mumbai Indians, Evin Lewis could be a star pick. After all, this is a man that is being touted as the next Gayle of the T20 format and has all it takes to have the same impact as the big West Indian had during his peak. Also, the batting track of Wankhede gives him the perfect opportunity to make a lot of runs in this tournament.

However, the biggest strength of Mumbai is in their pace bowling department. They have three of the best pacers in the world in Pat Cummins, Jasprit Bumrah and Mustafizur Rahman and could seriously choke the batsmen in the death overs.

Predicted XI: Evin Lewis, Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Tajinder Singh, Pat Cummins, Rahul Chahar, Mustafizur Rahman, Jasprit Bumrah

Chennai Super Kings

The team in yellow have focused solely on this year’s Indian Premier League as they have one of the most experienced squads in the tournament. They have a great variety of spinners and can rely on Ravindra Jadeja, Imran Tahir, Mitchell Santner, and Harbhajan Singh to trick the batsmen.

Since the game is being played on the batting paradise at the Wankhede, the onus will be the likes of Shane Watson, Suresh Raina and Lungi Ngidi to perform. The South African, especially, is a huge talent and can stop the flow of runs in the powerplay. Mark Wood can also be picked instead of Dwayne Bravo as the Englishman can not only bat but also bowl at a good pace. 

Predicted XI: Murali Vijay, Shane Watson, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (c), Kedhar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mark Wood, Imran Tahir, Lungi Ngidi, Shardul Thakur

Prediction