The third game of the IPL between the Mumbai Indians and the Delhi Capitals is all set to take place on the 24th of March at Mumbai.

IPL 2018 review
The Mumbai Indians didn’t have a great year in the IPL 2018 with not qualifying for the playoffs. They have been a top side in the IPL and not getting into the playoffs would have been disappointing for the team and their fans. One of their problems was that Rohit Sharma was not getting runs in the middle order, who had his worst season scoring just 286 runs at an average of 23.83. A lot was expected of Mustafizur Rahman as well who didn’t deliver. When they eventually had to win their last game to qualify, they lost the game to Delhi Daredevils, now called Delhi Capitals.

Delhi Capitals on the other hand could not really get going finishing last in the table. The season started with high expectations as Gautam Gambhir took over the captaincy, but unfortunately, he was unable to get going with the bat and hence midway decided to step down as captain. They really didn’t have too much going their way, apart from the odd games with individual brilliance from the likes of Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and one standout performance from Jason Roy.

How did the Auction go for both teams?
Rohit Sharma, although one of the best openers in international cricket, was batting in the middle order for the Mumbai Indians due to the lack of experience in the batting line up. Hence, they have gone for Yuvraj Singh, an experienced campaigner in the middle order and will give the reassurance for Rohit Sharma to open the innings. They have also got Lasith Malinga and Barinder Sran to boost their pace bowling attack which was one of the weak points last season. They got Quinton De Kock who is in brilliant form through transfer, who will play a key role at the top of the order for Mumbai Indians. The Mumbai Indians, have managed to win every alternative IPL since Rohit Sharma has taken up captaincy and going by that and the squad they have picked up, 2019 has all the possibilities of turning out well.

The Delhi Capitals, on the other hand have tried to get some experience to their batting line up by getting Shikhar Dhawan in. They have also gone for Colin Ingram who has been performing very well in the domestic leagues around the world having lost Glenn Maxwell in the middle order. Apart from this, they have got Hanuma Vihari to add solidity and have stocked up on the Indian pace bowling talent by getting Ishant Sharma and Nathu Singh. One other area of concern was in the spin bowling department and hence have got a reliable player in Axar Patel. Apart from this, they have bought a few other players as well and will be hoping for change of fortunes this season.   

Head to Head History
In spite of the Delhi Capitals struggling through in the IPL tournament, they have managed to trouble the Mumbai Indians on quite a few occasions.
Looking at their Head to Head stats, these two teams have played each other 22 times and both teams have won 11 games each.
However, Mumbai Indians hold the edge at home, winning 7 out of the 9 games against the Delhi Capitals.

Player Pick
Rohit Sharma, for the Mumbai Indians will have to play a major role to take Mumbai Indians a long way in this tournament. Having had his worst season batting in the middle order in IPL 2018, he has announced that he will be opening the batting throughout this tournament which is a huge positive for the team.  

Shreyas Iyer, for the Delhi Capitals has been in very good form in the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy this year, scoring 484 runs at an average of 60.50 and a strike rate of 152.20. He has also managed to score two hundred’s in the tournament. He is now the full time captain of this team who is desperately looking to turn things around and hence, It will be important for him as a young leader to score runs and set an example.

Possible Playing XI
The Mumbai Indians have a huge squad to pick from and will have to try and get their combinations correct. With Adam Milne out of the tournament, Malinga missing the first 6 games and Jason Behrendorff not available to start the IPL, they will have to manage the fast bowling resources with Mitchell McClenaghan and Ben Cutting.

MI (possible): 1 Rohit Sharma (c), 2 Quinton De Kock(wk), 3 Ishan Kishan, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Suryakumar Yadav, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Ben Cutting, 9 Mitchell McClenaghan 10 Mayank Markande, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

The Delhi Capitals also have a big squad to choose from and they will be determined to pick the right set of players to have a positive start in this IPL. Chris Morris will be unavailable for the first game due to international duties.

DC (possible): 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Prithvi Shaw, 3 Rishabh Pant(wk), 4 Shreyas Iyer(c), 5 Colin Ingram, 6 Hanuma Vihari, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Trent Boult, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Ishant Sharma/Avesh Khan, 11) Sandeep Lamichhane

Pitch Expectation
The Mumbai pitch has traditionally been a very high scoring ground with small boundaries. On the odd occasion, there have been some really low scoring games as well. However, we can expect a high scoring game with both sides having a lot of power hitters.

Prediction
The Mumbai Indians will start as favorites since they are playing at home against a team who is still looking to find their way. Delhi capitals however have the team to win, and young Shreyas Iyer will have to inspire and lead from the front to get the best out of his players.