Aakash Chopra, a former India cricketer, believes that the Mumbai Indians will be a difficult team to defeat and also cautions that the Gujarat Titans cannot be taken lightly as the Hardik Pandya-led squad has been very consistent in the current IPL 2023. Notably, after losing in Qualifier 1 to the Chennai Super Kings, the defending champions will face the Mumbai Indians in an attempt to reach their second consecutive final.
Mumbai, on the other hand, has an astounding playoff record. Chopra believes that the match is currently evenly poised and that the team that plays superior cricket on Friday, May 26 will win and advance to the finals to face the four-time defending champion Chennai Super Kings.
“Mumbai will not be simple to defeat. Gujarat is also a quality team. Do not underestimate Gujarat, as they held the top spot throughout the entire tournament. Once they reached the top spot, they remained there and qualified with ease, Chopra stated on his YouTube channel.
They were under no duress to win the last match. The fortunes of others were in their control. Consequently, I believe it will be a breathtaking encounter. It is 50-50. Whoever performs the best should triumph, so it makes no difference to us what I say. The encounter should be entertaining,” the 45-year-old added.
The contest of the day would be between Shami and the two openers for Mumbai Indians. Aakash Chopra
Mohammed Shami, the pacer for the Gujarat Titans, has been remarkable this season. With 26 wickets in 15 matches, the cricketer is presently in first place in the IPL Purple Cap race. According to Aakash Chopra, the matchup to observe between the right-arm pacer and MI batters in the powerplay will be against Mumbai. The right-arm pacer hopes to maintain his form against Mumbai.
“The contest of the day that you should pay close attention to is Mohammad Shami bowling to the two Mumbai Indians openers, in my opinion.” Last time these two teams met, Shami was bowling under the lights but failed to take a wicket.
“However, if you had witnessed that spell, you would have stated that he should have taken four or five wickets, not one or two. The batters were unable to contact the ball with their bats, but he went wicketless because it was not his day. Hardik Pandya dropped a catch at the conclusion of the game,” Chopra added.