MUMBAI: Defending champions Mumbai Indians will take on new franchise Rising Super Giants in the opening match of Indian Premier League 2016 at the Wankhede Stadium on April 9.
Even though Pune are a new franchise, by no means they can be taken lightly. Led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the squad boasts of some prolific cricketers in Steve Smith, Ajinkya Rahane, R Ashwin, Kevin Pietersen and Faf du Plessis.
Not only a good show is assured from the new team, but they are also serious contenders for the title as well.
Mumbai, on the other hand, can take a lot of inspiration from the way they fought back last year.
Rohit Sharma and his boys were in dire straits, before resurrecting and going on to win the tournament. Their side comprises of some of the best cricketers in Lasith Malinga, Lendl Simmons, Harbhajan Singh and Corey Anderson.
Mumbai would want to do well in the initial stages of the tournament, something they have struggled a lot in the last few years.
Squads:
Mumbai Indians IPL squad: Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Hardik Pandya, Ambati Rayudu, Jagadeesha Suchith, Jasprit Bumrah, Parthiv Patel, R Vinay Kumar, Shreyas Gopal, Nitish Rana, Siddhesh Lad, Unmukt Chand, Akshay Wakhare, Mitchell McClenaghan, Corey Anderson, Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard, Marchant de Lange, Lasith Malinga, Jos Buttler, Nathu Singh, Tim Southee, Krunal Pandya, Kishore Pramod Kamath, Deepak Punia, Jitesh Sharma.
Rising Pune Supergiants IPL squad: MS Dhoni, Steven Smith, Faf du Plessis, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mitchell Marsh, Ashwin Murugan, Ishant Sharma, Kevin Pietersen, Irfan Pathan, Thisara Perera, Rajat Bhatia, Ashoke Dinda, Scott Boland, Peter Handscomb, RP Singh, Adam Zampa, Ishwar Pandey, Deepak Chahar, Jaskaran Singh, Baba Aparajith, Ankush Bains, Ankit Sharma. - Znews
Water crisis hits IPL:
NEW DELHI: Lashing out at the Maharashtra government over the wastage of water for maintaining pitches during the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Bombay High Court said that the people were far more important than cricket tournament.
Former journalist Ketan Tirodkar has sought court orders to recover Rs1,000 for each litre of water used to make and maintain cricket pitches for the matches in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Pune during the tournament.
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed regarding the same, which also demanded extra charges be levied on IPL organizers to meet the expenses for sending water to crisis-hit areas.
Earlier, IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla ruled out shifting the matches out of Maharashtra due to drought and water scarcity in the state.
There is demand from some quarters that IPL matches should not be played in the state as the preparation of grounds requires huge amounts of water.
A PIL filed in the High Court on Tuesday sought a direction to the IPL Chairman to pay tax on usage of water, claiming that about 60,000 litres of water would be needed every day to maintain the pitches.
Mumbai BJP secretary Vivekananda Gupta too had demanded that IPL matches be shifted out of the state.
The annual T20 extravaganza would kick off on April 9 in Mumbai. – Zee News
