IPL 2023: Focus on Rohit Sharma again as MI look to halt GT juggernaut in Mumbai

Mumbai Indians (MI) will be hoping to take a step ahead in their hopes for qualification for the Indian Premier League (IPL) playoffs when they take on Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday.

IPL 2023: Full coverage | Points table | Schedule | Results | Orange Cap | Purple Cap​

GT are sitting atop the points table with 16 points from 11 games, and a win for them in either of their final three league games will help them secure a spot in the top-two.

MI, meanwhile had surged to third place following their six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) recently, but slipped a place to fourth after RR beat KKR on Thursday.

Suryakumar Yadav seems to have rediscovered his mojo while Nehal Wadhera has been a revelation, but with games coming in thick and fast, MI’s major worry remains Rohit Sharma’s form with the bat.

Rohit was dismissed for just seven against RCB in their last game. In this season, the MI skipper has aggregated just 191 runs from 11 matches at a strike-rate of 124.84, with just one fifty to his name.

MI have completed somewhat of a turnaround in the second half of IPL 2023, chasing down targets in excess of 200 on more than one occasion. On the other hand, GT’s bowlers, especially the likes of Mohammed Shami and Rashid Khan, have been influential in restricting the opponents to low scores.

The biggest boost for MI ahead of the all-important match against GT is that Tilak Varma is fit again, and in contention to play on Friday. Tilak Varma had missed MI’s last two matches due to a hamstring niggle, and his return to the playing XI will be a welcome move as far MI are concerned.

Josh Little remains absent from the GT camp due to national duties with Ireland, and in his absence, Alzarri Joseph is set to remain the playing XI.

While Shami can regularly strike with the new ball in hand, Afghanistan’s spin duo of Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad can step up with wickets in the middle-overs.

All in all, GT possesses a huge threat for MI, and more importantly for Rohit Sharma and Co, they cannot afford any more slip ups, now that there is a huge battle for the top four spots.

MI vs GT head-to-head

Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans have played only twice so far, and the spoils are currently shared 1-1. While MI won by five wickets at the Brabourne Stadium in 2022, GT emerged victorious by 55 runs when the two sides met earlier this season in Ahmedabad.

MI vs GT: Form (Last five matches)

Mumbai Indians: W L W W L

Gujarat Titans: W W L W W

MI vs GT Date and Time

MI vs GT will be played on 12 May (Friday) at 7:30 PM IST. The match will be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

MI vs GT TV coverage, live streaming

MI vs GT in IPL 2023 will be available on Star Sports Network for TV broadcast. The match will be live streamed on JioCinema app and website if you’re looking to live stream it.

MI vs GT squads

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Jofra Archer, Arshad Khan, Jason Behrendorff, Dewald Brevis, Piyush Chawla, Tim David, Raghav Goyal, Cam Green, Ishan Kishan, Duan Jansen, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal, Shams Mulani, Ramandeep Singh, Hrithik Shokeen, Tristan Stubbs, Arjun Tendulkar, N Tilak Varma, Vishnu Vinod, Nehal Wadhera, Suryakumar Yadav

Gujarat Titans: Hardik Pandya (c), KS Bharat, Alzarri Joseph, Josh Little, Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Mohammed Shami, Darshan Nalkande, Noor Ahmad, Urvil Patel, Rashid Khan, Wriddhiman Saha, R Sai Kishore, Sai Sudharsan, Pradeep Sangwan, Vijay Shankar, Mohit Sharma, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Odean Smith, Rahul Tewatia, Matthew Wade, Kane Williamson, Jayant Yadav, Yash Dayal

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