Mumbai: By the time Mumbai Indians step out to play their penultimate league tie against Delhi Capitals on Wednesday at home, it would have been a fortnight since their last game. Remember the last ball midnight thriller which they lost to Gujarat Titans at the Wankhede?
In the interim, missiles were fired across the India-Pakistan border, IPL was suspended, Rohit Sharma called it quits in Test cricket. But here they are, back to normalcy. And straight in with an opportunity to seal the fourth playoff berth behind Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans.
“It’s in our control. It’s a great position to be in,” said Mahela Jayawardene, MI head coach. “It’s better to have it in our control than anyone else’s and watch that situation, we’ve played good cricket to deserve to be in that situation… We’ve had a good week’s preparation and watched what the other teams were doing. We just need to go out and express ourselves and play a good game.”
Before their last loss, MI, on a six-match winning streak, were looking like the team to beat. With the forced break, every team has had to start again. Five teams at the bottom of the points table have lost the right to advance further. IPL resumption matters the most for the two teams still in qualification contention – MI and DC. For DC, this is virtually a must-win. A slip-up from Delhi, and the only point of interest that will be left in the last week of IPL 2025 will be to see who finishes in the top two.
“Every game is a pressure match in IPL. But there is additional pressure. If we lose, we are out,” said Munaf Patel, DC bowling coach.
Besides, DC are having to play the remaining matches without Mitchell Starc, their leading wicket-taker and all-phase paceman. “It matters. Starc was our main bowler. Someone who could bowl 145kph, swing the ball. And we are playing at Wankhede where the pitch has bounce,” said Patel. “But you have to go with what you have and get performance.”
They fared poorly the last time without Starc, in Delhi on Sunday. Coming off a 10-wicket loss, after watching Gujarat Titans openers Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan chase down 200, Mustafizur Rahman and Dushmantha Chameera will need to do a lot better.
Wednesday’s action could be affected by weather with Mumbai experiencing unseasonal rains. No result will leave both teams with work to do in their final league matches.
To cover for the threat of rain, as provided for the playoffs, an additional hour has been allocated for the remaining league matches in case of stoppages. “Obviously the weather has been threatening most of the games and it’s a decision that they’ve collectively taken,” Jayawardene said. “If it helps, it helps. But if you have serious rain, I don’t know whether the extra hour is going to help. As long as we can get a game with the extension…everyone wants to play a game of cricket rather than not play.”
