LSG Vs MI: Mumbai Indians Challenge Lucknow Super Giants - Rishabh Pant to be tested again: Rishabh Pant, who is forced to focus on individual run-scoring as well as lifting his team from defeat, now faces another test of his mettle on Friday. Lucknow Super Giants will face Mumbai Indians, who won the last match. So, what is the strength of these teams? How will the pitch at Ekana Stadium in Lucknow behave? Here are the complete details.
Team India's two star players, Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant, will face off in the IPL match on Friday. Five-time champions Mumbai Indians have not performed as expected so far in the current edition. The team has collected 2 points from the last three matches. Rohit Sharma's loss of batting rhythm has been a setback for the team. The same applies to Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant. They too have failed to display good batting in the previous matches.
Amidst the controversy surrounding home pitches becoming a nuisance to the home team, it is curious whether the pitch here will favor LSG or Mumbai. Mumbai Indians have been dealt a setback with the batting failure and the absence of star pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who has been ruled out of the match due to injury. There is no clear information available on when he will return to the team, which has put Hardik's team in a difficult position.
Mumbai with confidence
Meanwhile, in the match against KKR on March 31, Ashwani Kumar played a key role in the team's victory by taking 4 wickets for 24, which has boosted the confidence of the Mumbai team. It is true that the team is not entirely dependent on 23-year-old Ashwani Kumar, but Ashwani has shown promise as the team's star bowler. The young bowler, who made his IPL debut through the Mumbai team, became the first Indian to take 4 wickets on debut by dismissing KKR's Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Rinku Singh and Andre Russell.
Mumbai and Lucknow are at 5th and 6th positions respectively in the points table. Apart from Nicholas Pooran and Mitchell Marsh, who have both scored 2 half-centuries each in the current edition and provided support to Lucknow, the rest of the batsmen have failed. The team suffered a setback after losing by 1 wicket against Delhi Capitals in the previous match. The Lucknow bowling team, led by Shardul Thakur and Ravi Bishnoi, will have to overcome their challenges.
- Venue: Ekana Stadium, Lucknow
- Match Start: 7.30 PM
- Live Broadcast: Star Sports
Lucknow Probable Playing XI
Rishabh Pant (Captain), Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Abdul Samad, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Akash Deep (Impact Player)
Mumbai Indians Probable Playing XI
Hardik Pandya (Captain), Ryan Rickelton, Will Jacks, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Ashwani Kumar, Vignesh Puttur, Rohit Sharma (Impact Player)
