Sachin Tendulkar, the God of Cricket, turned 45 today. While his fans across the world are celebrating the day and pouring wishes on social media, Mumbai Indians (MI) are gearing up to play their next match at the Wankhede Stadium tonight. Sachin had led this team in the initial seasons and post-retirement, he has been mentoring young cricketers who are inducted into the MI camp.
Sachin has always been a key player for the team and Mumbai Indians owes their massive fan base at least partially to the Master Blaster. In the previous 10 seasons, it has happened on thrice that MI played a match on April 24, Sachin’s birthday. Tonight, it will be the fourth time in IPL history that the Paltan will be taking the field, this time against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), but before that, let’s have a look at the results of those 3 previous encounters:
1. In 2011 against Deccan Chargers, Venue: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad
This was the first time when Sachin Tendulkar led MI to play an IPL match on his birthday. The then skipper scored 28 off 24 balls while Mumbai defeated DC by 37 runs. Rohit Sharma scored 56 in that game.
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2. In 2013 against Kolkata Knight Riders, Venue: Eden Gardens Kolkata
MI chased a target of 160 runs against KKR. While Sachin could only score 2 runs on his birthday that year, MI managed to take the game home by 5 wickets.
3. In 2017 against Rising Pune Supergiant, Venue: Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai
It was the first time that MI played a match on his birthday post Sachin’s retirement. Skipper Rohit Sharma scored a 39-ball 58 but unfortunately, they lost the game by mere 3 runs.
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And once again on April 24, 2018, MI are going to host SRH at the Wankhede which has been home to Sachin Tendulkar.
Taking about their performance in the on-going season, this franchise has been going through an extremely rough patch. Under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, the defending champions have managed to win just one game out of 5 and are at the 7th position in the points table.
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Since they are going to play today at home, on Sachin’s birthday, the MI Paltan will definitely strive to win this game against SRH as a gift.
