CSK vs MI IPL 2019 preview: The battle between the two giants

Some hail this as the biggest rivalry in Indian Premier League while some have other thoughts. But whatever maybe the beliefs, the Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians is surely a high-voltage drama.

Two sides loaded with superstar T20 cricketers and a loyal fan base. This is the cream of franchise cricket, the marketers’ dream and fans’ delight.

Meanwhile, CSK are dominating the IPL season 12 with eight wins in 11 games while Mumbai are comfortably placed with six wins in 10 games. A rehersal of the play-offs?

Team news:

Mumbai have replaced their injured overseas pacer Alzarri Joseph with Beuran Hendricks who hails from South Africa and seen as a promising prospect by several people.

Rested. Recharged. Ready to go for #CSKvMI ????‍♂???? #OneFamily #CricketMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/m1C49g1j3b

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 25, 2019

Form guide:

Shane Watson coming back to form has increased Chennai’s batting might  while the bowling looks fine although Dwayne Bravo is still to regain his death overs mojo.

Mumbai need a bit more from Suryakumar Yadav whom they have trusted in this season while Chahar’s spin bowling is a relieving factor.

Key Numbers:

• Mumbai Indians have an edge over Chennai Super Kings in head to head battles. Mumbai have won 15 while Chennai has won 12 games. In the last five matches played between the two teams, CSK has won only once.

• Chennai has been undefeatable at their home so far in Indian Premier League 2019 but Mumbai have won four out of the six matches played here.

Players in focus:

An average of 25.33 and a tally of 228 runs in nine innings reflects Rohit Sharma’s below par IPL season so far. However the MI skipper has done well against CSK historically with 560 runs in 19 innings. He can be expected to score some runs on Friday.

Dwayne Bravo has conceded more than nine runs per over in Indian Premier League 2019 but has claimed a wicket every 13.4 balls. He has 32 wickets against Mumbai and it will be an exciting contest to watch Bravo lined-up against Pollard and Hardik.