Returning to his home ground of Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad is a special moment for Tilak Varma as he gets ready to represent Mumbai Indians against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 on Wednesday.
It's always special to play in my home grounds. Since childhood, I have been playing here and it's a special moment for me.
Mumbai Indians get into their ninth match in the league with four wins and four losses while Sunrisers Hyderabad are struggling for consistency as they languish at the second-last spot in the points table with four points.
MI come into the match with three wins in a row while SRH get into Match 41 on Wednesday with a defeat against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Winning three games in a row is always good. It's not easy to win three games, but I would say it's a long tournament, so we just want to follow our basics and be calm and we want to do the right things in the right movement.
After a slow start in which they won only one match in five, Mumbai Indians have found their rhythm and their batting came good as Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav struck blazing half-centuries to hand Chennai Super Kings a nine-wicket defeat.
On the bowling front, Jasprit Bumrah's return to the team has really galvanized the bowling unit. In the last match, the pacer from Gujarat claimed the crucial wickets of Shivam Dube and M.S Dhoni to thwart CSK.
SRH have been plagued by indifferent and inconsistent form with their batters except openers Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head, have struggled to impress. Abhishek hammered a 55-ball 141 against Punjab Kings.
In the last match, he scored 40 while Travis Head has scored only two half-centuries, 67 against Rajasthan Royals in their first match and 66 against Punjab Kings.
Ishan Kishan scored his maiden century in their first match and has since then reached double figures in only one match in six since. Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen have made a few important contributions. On the bowling front, Harshal Patel (9 wkts) and Pat Cummins (7) have led their efforts while Mohammed Shami (5) has struggled to impose himself.
In 24 matches they have met so far in IPL history, Mumbai Indians have won 14 matches while SRH have claimed victory in 10 matches. In the last five matches, hosts SRH have lost four and won one while Mumbai Indians have emerged victorious in three and lost two.
Probable playing XIs: Sunrisers Hyderabad: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Aniket Verma, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins (capt), Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami, Eshan Malinga
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (capt), Naman Dhir, Will Jacks, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah.
