T20 2018: Mumbai are wounded beasts, says Carlos Brathwaite

Carlos Brathwaite

Mumbai team, who lost a humdinger to Chennai in their opening encounter at the Wankhede, have the reputation of being slow starters before they start punching the opposition in their typical, heavyweight manner. Their opponents today - Hyderabad - are aware of this, and realise that Rohit Sharma & Co would want to buck the trend when both teams square off at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium this evening.

Team Hyderabad's West Indian all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite elaborated. "Mumbai Indians are coming off a first game loss and they will be looking to bounce back. We need to make sure that it's not us that they get redemption from. They are wounded and slow starters, but we need to be wary of the wounded beasts," Brathwaite, Hyderabad's new recruit, who played for Delhi last season, told mid-day over the phone from Hyderabad yesterday.

The big-hitter, remembered for his four consecutive sixes off Ben Stokes in the 2016 World T20 final against England at Eden Gardens, maintained that Mumbai have plenty of match winners, another aspect the Hyderabad need to take into account. "Mumbai have a lot of depth, so they are never really out of the game per say. Rohit is not the only key wicket. If you look down the order, there's Kieron Pollard, Ishan Kishan, the Pandya brothers, so there are a lot of match winners.

Mumbai's strength is that they bat deep and there's power in that playing XI," Brathwaite said going on to bill today's encounter as a battle between a solid Hyderabad bowling attack versus a heavy artillery Mumbai batting line-up. The Hyderabad's batting department, recuperating from David Warner's absence, received a major shot in the arm after Shikhar Dhawan's ubiquitous influence led them to a thumping nine-wicket win over Rajasthan on Monday.

Brathwaite felt that the wily Indian southpaw must simply continue doing what he does best - bat aggressively. "Dhawan has been successful for Hyderabad and India. He should continue to be aggressive which he been doing for the last few years," said Brathwaite.

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