IPL 9: Carnival opens with Maharashtra derby

Mumbai: Defending champions Mumbai Indians will hope for a winning start when they take on new franchise Rising Pune Supergiants in the opening match of the IPL-9 here on Saturday. The fact that Mumbai are starting their title defense at the fortress that is Wankhede Stadium will spur them on further in the Maharashtra derby.

With the emergence of pacer Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Hardik Pandya who have become a proven performers in Twenty20, Ricky Ponting’s men look a well-settled unit now. The new buy Jos Butler has given them more power hitting option in the middle-order which already has the likes of Kieron Pollard and Corey Anderson. Butler’s presence means last season’s preferred stumper Parthiv Patel may have to wait for his opportunity.

Those power hitters will follow the most likely opening pair of Lendl Simmons and skipper Rohit Sharma. Ambati Rayudu will try to hold one end in the midst of the innings. However, in the absence of injured bowling spearhead Lasith Malinga, the hosts have a hard decision to make on whether to persist with left-arm Kiwi pacer Mitchell McClenaghan or include all-rounder Anderson who missed bulk of last season due to an injury. They also have pace options in Tim Southee and Marchant de Lange. In spin, MI will bank heavily on their experienced off spinner Harbhajan Singh.

The Supergiants owned by RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group resemble the suspended Chennai Super Kings. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, coach Stephen Fleming, off-spinner R Ashwin and Faf Du Plessis, who formed the fulcrum of the CSK, are with Pune now.

Kevin Pietersen, Steve Smith and Ajinkya Rahane make Pune a star-studded batting line-up. The fourth slot for a foreigner could be a toss-up between all-rounders Mitchell Marsh, Thisara Perera and Albie Morkel. Besides Ashwin Supergiants have spinning options in Australian leggie Adam Zampa, Tamil Nadu youngster Murugan Ashwin and left-arm slow bowler Ankit Sharma of Madhya Pradesh.

Irfan Pathan showed form during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 tournament and he is likely to get a go ahead to support the likes of Ishant Sharma, Ishwar Pandey, RP Singh with the ball.

There was some cloud over the match due to prevailing water crisis in Maharashtra but the decks were cleared by the Bombay High Court on Thursday after declining to grant a stay on the Saturday’s match.