Mumbai: Defending champions Mumbai Indians will take on new franchise Rising Super Giants in the opening match of Indian Premier League 2016 at the Wankhede Stadium on April 9.


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Even though Pune are a new franchise, by no means they can be taken lightly. Led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the squad boasts of some prolific cricketers in Steve Smith, Ajinkya Rahane, R Ashwin, Kevin Pietersen and Faf du Plessis.


Not only a good show is assured from the new team, but they are also serious contenders for the title as well.


Mumbai, on the other hand, can take a lot of inspiration from the way they fought back last year.


Rohit Sharma and his boys were in dire straits, before resurrecting and going on to win the tournament. Their side comprises of some of the best cricketers in Lasith Malinga, Lendl Simmons, Harbhajan Singh and Corey Anderson.


Mumbai would want to do well in the initial stages of the tournament, something they have struggled a lot in the last few years.


Squads:


Mumbai Indians IPL squad: Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Hardik Pandya, Ambati Rayudu, Jagadeesha Suchith, Jasprit Bumrah, Parthiv Patel, R Vinay Kumar, Shreyas Gopal, Nitish Rana, Siddhesh Lad, Unmukt Chand, Akshay Wakhare, Mitchell McClenaghan, Corey Anderson, Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard, Marchant de Lange, Lasith Malinga, Jos Buttler, Nathu Singh, Tim Southee, Krunal Pandya, Kishore Pramod Kamath, Deepak Punia, Jitesh Sharma.


Rising Pune Supergiants IPL squad: MS Dhoni, Steven Smith, Faf du Plessis, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mitchell Marsh, Ashwin Murugan, Ishant Sharma, Kevin Pietersen, Irfan Pathan, Thisara Perera, Rajat Bhatia, Ashoke Dinda, Scott Boland, Peter Handscomb, RP Singh, Adam Zampa, Ishwar Pandey, Deepak Chahar, Jaskaran Singh, Baba Aparajith, Ankush Bains, Ankit Sharma.