By Admin 
The Met department has issued a heat wave in Mumbai this week. With a high-profile clash featuring some of the hardest hitters in the game, Thursday night is set to be as hot as the day in south Mumbai.
Besides their red-hot batting units, Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad have a lot in common. Both outfits banked heavily on retaining their core despite a complete overhaul ahead of the season. Both had a torrid run, up front. And both have registered morale-boosting outcomes in their previous outing.
Sunrisers will hope for Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head — who rediscovered their mojo in Hyderabad against Punjab Kings over the weekend — to continue in the same vein. Mumbai, on the other hand, will hope for its underperforming top-order to relieve the pressure on the middle and lower order.
While the focus will be on Jasprit Bumrah’s duel against Travishek, SRH will be banking on another left-hander to fire — Ishan Kishan. And the pocket dynamo at No. 3 himself will be desperate to make a case against his former team.
Ishan did not bat during Saturday’s nets, but he knows the conditions at Wankhede more than anyone else in the SRH camp. Having been let go by MI in the big auction, he will be desperate to repeat his heroics in the season-opener.
But the left-handed trio at the top will obviously be wary of Bumrah, a wounded tiger after the beating he took from Karun Nair in New Delhi. Bumrah was at his miserly best at the Wankhede on his comeback game last week, but MI will want for him to get back into a wicket-taking streak.
While captain Hardik Pandya will look forward to continuing his exploits along with finisher Naman Dhir, the home fans will hope for Suryakumar Yadav to repeat his last year’s hundred against the same opposition.
Published – April 16, 2025 07:20 pm IST