Cricket lovers are in for a massive treat as they will get to re-witness one of the greatest rivalries of the IPl when struggling defending champions Mumbai Indians face high-flying Chennai Super Kings at the MCA ground in Pune on Saturday.
While this season has been a brilliant one for the two times champion CSK so far, Mumbai is having their worst run ever, having won only one of the six league games.
Despite the star studded destructive batting line-up consisting of West Indian Evin lewis, who is termed as the successor for Chris Gayle in the shorter format, local lad Rohit Sharma, Kieran Pollard and many more, the team failed to chase down the meagre total of 118 runs against SRH in the last game, falling short by 31 runs.
Rohit's poor form has been one of the major reasons why Mumbai is struggling this season. The below average performances of Kieron Pollard and Pandya brothers has not helped their cause much either.
Established Indian team all-rounder Hardik, who was retained by the franchise, has failed to leave an impression in any of the five games he featured in this season. While, his elder sibling Krunal Pandya, who was brought for a whooping Rs 8.8 crores using Right To Match (RTM) card in the auction, has been equally disappointing.
The problem for Mumbai does not end with the batting department, but the bowlers are equally responsible for putting the defending champions in this troublesome situation.
Despite having two finest death bowlers in the world, Jasprit Bumrah and Mustafizur Rahman, Mumbai side has failed to defend their totals.
Besides, the bowlers' inability to consistently perform has cost the team badly. Hence, they are now on the verge of failing to secure a play-off spot.
Of their five defeats, four were lost in the last over, which could have gone either way.
The only positive for them has been Suryakumar Yadav and young Ishan Kishan's impressive showings.
The management's decision of asking Suryakumar to open the innings has worked well for the 27-year-old Mumbai player, who has two half centuries under his belt this season. While former Indian U-19 skipper Kishan also made the most of his chances. His ability to keep has been an added boost for the defending champions.
On the other hand, Chennai Super Kings, under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, have been nothing but impressive. CSK, which has featured in six of the eight IPl finals, is currently at the top of the table with five wins from six games. Their only defeat came against Kings XI Punjab in Mohali by four runs in the game which could have easily gone the other way.
The biggest plus for Chennai side this season is the team's collective performance. The side has successfully chased down 200 plus total twice this season (against Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore).
Former Mumbai Indians batsman Ambati Rayudu, who is opening the innings, is in terrific form, with scores of 80 plus on his last two matches, while his partner Shane Watson smashed an incredible century against Rajasthan Royals.
Dwayne Bravo stole the show in the season opener against Mumbai, making quick-fire 68. Sam Billings was impressive against Kolkata Knight Riders in the only game CSK played in Chennai.
But, the biggest relief for the 2015 finalists is the skipper Dhoni's form. The former Indian captain has shown why he's still one of the best finishers of the game.
Against Punjab, Dhoni made 79 but unfortunately couldn't take his side home. However, against RCB in their last game Dhoni made his efforts count, scoring 70 not out off just 34 balls with one boundary and seven humongous sixes to help CSK win by five wickets, when chasing a mammoth 206-run target.
Though the batting unit is doing great for the side, there's still room for improvement and fans would be eager to watch Mr IPl Suresh Raina perform more consistently.
In the bowling front, Pacer Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar are doing decent jobs and are continuously getting wickets, while spin trio of Imran Tahir, Harbhajan Singh and Ravindra Jadeja are performing equally good. However, the side will be eager to stop leaking runs, which has been their biggest concern.