Mumbai face do-or-die situation against Royals

Besides, the fact that Graeme Smith, who scored 91 in the match against Chennai Super Kings on Saturday, is a doubtful starter will also brighten up the Mumbai Indians’ eyes as they would apply every trick in the book to halt the Rajasthan Royals’ juggernaut.

The Mumbai outfit is in a do-or-die situation as they have 12 points in their kitty from as many matches and two more victories will take them to a maximum of 16 points to ensure a berth in the semis.

But, any result other than the wins will make Mumbai’s entry to the knock-out phase doubtful as Chennai, 14 points from 13 matches, and Delhi, 15 from 14 matches, are giving a close chase to the Sachin Tendulkar-led side for semifinal berths.

So the strong batting line-up of the Mumbai Indians has to fire again in order to give the bowlers, led by the experienced Shaun Pollock and Andre Nel, the freedom to attack the rival batsmen.

Led by the Sanath Jaisurya’s blitzkrieg, the side has posted several impressive totals and out-scored their opponents in previous matches. Besides, Tendulkar, Robin Uthappa and West Indian Dwayne Smith add depth to their batting.

The Rajasthan outfit, on the other hand, is at the peak of their dream run which defies to end despite some experimentation being done by their shrewd captain-cum-coach Shane Warne.

The fact that despite resting their star all-rounder Shane Watson, Warne’s men tamed the Chennai Super Kings in the away clash speaks volumes of their ability and fighting spirit.

And Warne will be tempted to indulge in the luxury of experimentation as his side has booked its berth in the semis long time back and the hamstring niggle to Smith has also provided the skipper another chance to try a different player.

Known for marshalling his men well, Warne boasted on Saturday that even in tight situations against Chennai he was “trying different bowlers to observe how they perform under pressure” and the Aussie might not shy away from doing the same against the Mumbai team.

The cloud over Smith’s fitness notwithstanding, Kamran Akmal, Swapnil Asnodkar, Yusuf Pathan and Mohammad Kaif make a formidable batting force for the hosts, while Warne, Sohail Tanveer, Munaf Patel and Sidhartha Trivedi have proved time and again what they are capable of.

Rajasthan Royals: Shane Warne (C), Graeme Smith, Sohail Tanvir, Siddharth Trivedi, Shane Watson, Mohammad Kaif, Munaf Patel, Niraj Patel, Yusuf Pathan, Mahesh Rawat, Dinesh Salunkhe, Aditya Angle, Swapnil Asnodkar, Ravindra Jadeja, Kamran Akmal, Pankaj Singh, Sumit Khatri, Taruwar Kohli, Anup Revandkar, Parag More, Morne Morkel, Jaydev Shah.

Mumbai Indians: Sachin Tendulkar (C), Siddharth Chitnis, Dilhara Fernando, Sanath Jayasuriya, Dhawal Kulkarni, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Rajesh Pawar, Shaun Pollock, Rohan Raje, Pinal Shah, Dwayne Smith, Yogesh Takawale, Dominic Thornely, Saurabh Tiwary, Robin Uthappa, Vikrant Yeligati, Andre Nel.