While the hosts were already struggling to open their account after three matches in the Twenty20 extravaganza in the absence of regular captain Tendulkar, who is nursing a groin injury, Harbhajan Singh added to their agony as he allegedly slapped rival pacer S. Sreesanth immediately after their match against Kings XI Punjab in Mohali on Friday.
In batting, the Mumbai top-order, with Sanath Jayasuriya heading it, has not fired in unison and this has resulted in the team's bottom order trying to salvage the situation, but to no avail.
The bowlers too have not come up to scratch with only Shaun Pollock, to some extent, and the under-scrutiny Harbhajan looking capable of stemming the run-glut from the opposition ranks.
With Deccan chargers also not able to win a point still, both the teams would be eager to put it across one another and kick-start their tepid campaign under lights at the state-of-the-art stadium in the satellite township of Navi Mumbai, just across the harbour.
Hyderabad are struggling to gel as a team with retired Australian great Adam Gilchrist yet to provide value for the huge amount of money invested in him by team owners Deccan Chronicle.
Captain V.V.S. Laxman has also not yet shown that the national selectors were wrong in repeatedly ignoring his claims in the shorter forms of the game. — PTI
Hyderabad Deccan Chargers (Probable): V.V.S. Laxman (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Shahid Afridi, Chaminda Vaas, Hershelle Gibbs, Scott Styris, R.P. Singh, Rohit Sharma, Sanjay Bangar, Arjun Yadav, D. Kalyankrishna, Pragyan Ojha, Chamara Silva, Nuwan Zoysa.
Mumbai Indians (Probable): Sachin Tendulkar, Shaun Pollock, Sanath Jayasuriya, Dwayne Bravo, Luke Ronchi, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Robin Uttappa, Saurabh Tiwary, Loots Bosman, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mussavir Khote, Ashwell Prince, Ajinkya Rahane.
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