Royals eye pride,MI practice

The Mumbai Indians won a spot in the last four sitting in their hotel rooms in Jaipur on Saturday,one day before their last league stage match against the Rajasthan Royals.

The Mumbai Indians won a spot in the last four sitting in their hotel rooms in Jaipur on Saturday,one day before their last league stage match against the Rajasthan Royals. Or to put it correctly,the Delhi Daredevils won it for them. As the league leaders took out Kings XI Punjab in Dharamsala,it must have come as a relief for Mumbai,who with 18 points in 15 games,are now assured of at least a fourth place on the points table. However,not everything went their way. With the Kolkata Knight Riders defeating Pune Warriors later in the day,Mumbai cannot fish higher than third,and thus miss out on the security of the second net of the Qualifier spot.

What the results also did,however,was to take further sheen from Sundays game at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium a match which had already lost its significance for the host team after their campaign-ending defeat against the Deccan Chargers on Friday.

The primary focus now shifts to whether Harbhajan Singhs team can get back to winning ways after their loss against Kolkata. A factor in that defeat was the way Mumbai unravelled against KKR mystery spinner Sunil Narine at the Wankhede. On Sunday,they will face Rajasthans own version,Ajit Chandila.

Narines consistent line and his variations had flummoxed,among others,the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Herschelle Gibbs,turning the game on its head. Offie Chandila might not quite be in the same league as the West Indian just yet,but his 4/13 against Pune Warriors that included a hat-trick merits to be taken seriously.

The last time the two sides faced each other,Mumbai had registered a comprehensive win. The Royals had played spinner Ankeet Chavan who after an impressive first over was taken to the cleaners by Richard Levi and Tendulkar. Chandilas unusual off-spinners will,however,be difficult to put away.

Rohit Sharma,who was dismissed by Narine in the last match,sounded confident on the prospect of facing Chandila. Sunil Narine is an exceptional bowler,he has been doing well. I dont want to talk about the opposition here. We know that they have got good bowling line-up but if we play normal cricket we can tackle any bowler, Sharma said.

The big draw,however,will be RR captain Rahul Dravid,who should he play,wont be seen in action till,at least,2013,by which time hell be 40. Dravid has had a remarkable season as he scored 457. His team will look to pay off by pulling off a win as a parting gift.

Live on Set Max: 8 pm