Mumbai: Mumbai Indians’ concerns on the bowling front may make a comeback with Jasprit Bumrah’s withdrawal, but they expect their batsmen to play with inspired Royal Challenger Bengaluru in Monday’s IPL match.
Bumrah trained on Sunday at Nets after joining MI Camp on Saturday night, a good enough mark for head coach Mahela Jayawardene to confirm his game availability against RCB.
But three losses in four games marked another bad start for the five winners, with the Mumbai Indians struggling to deal with the batter. So far, only two Mi’s batsmen have played for half a century in four games – Suryakumar Yadav and Ryan Rickelton.
Of all 10 IPL teams, this is the least contribution of each batsman in the fifties.
Scoring in the fifties has been tough in the T20 cricket game, but IPL teams are increasingly moving toward the biggest attacks of the biggest hitters.
At the center of Mi’s fight with the Bats is former captain Rohit Sharma, who missed his final game against Lucknow Super Giants as his knee hit his knee after a poor start to the IPL, while a mid-term combo, Tilak Varma, didn’t turn his start into a big score.
Whether Rohit is suitable for the conflict with RCB remains to be seen, but MI certainly needs to resolve their hit disaster quickly and Suryakumar needs to continue the heavy moves.
The Indian T20i captain has entered his kittens 177 times and has been Mi’s best batsman this season. His half century gave MI hope for LSG, but it corresponds to Tilak’s failure to accelerate, which left a difficult task in the pursuit.
Despite Captain Hardik Pandya’s five free throws, LSG has accumulated a total of more than MI as they lack the reduction of batsmen. Pandya hit a heroic 16-goal 28, but got no support from the other end.
Mi’s only win so far is defeating Wankhede’s Kolkata Knight Riders last week, and they will need a re-act.
For visiting Royal Challengers, this will be an opportunity to take advantage of Mi’s hitting footsteps and put further pressure on his opponent.
Virat Kohli was shocked by the cold at the start of the IPL he started, not against KKR, but has been struggling since.
But there is enough firepower in the RCB team to continue pushing the larger total, while Phil Salt and Devdutt Padikkal provide fireworks and captain Rajat Patidar, if the situation contends, the necessary mat.
Tim David may prove to be an important gear in the RCB lineup. The former MI player knows the ground well, and its short boundaries will give the burly Australian a chance to hit explosive knocks, which he did for his former side several times.
RCB has strong speed in Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s speed bowling attacks, but provides control at the top, but the Spin Bowlers need to be more consistent.
RCB is third in the dock table and is eager to bounce from loss to Gujarat Giants from their last outing.
Head-to-head record:
Both Mumbai and Bengaluru have face-to-face in 33 matches since the game was founded. Among them, the Mumbai Indians gained the upper hand with 19 victories, while the RCB won 13 victories. A game is tied together.
In addition, Wankhede’s record is also beneficial to the host. RCB beat the franchise in Mumbai on three instances of the venue, and their final victory in Mumbai is approaching in 2015.
In its last encounter in 2024, the Mumbai Indians won 7 wickets.
Probability of winning:
In hot and humid conditions, the batting-friendly course adds relatively small boundaries, which makes Wankhede a batsman’s dream. However, since 2024, the team has scored more than 200 points.
Mumbai’s only win this season so far is at their home court, and a low-scoring game. The team has won four of the four games in the last eight games first, and winning the game may not have a significant impact. However, the captain’s victory may prefer bowling in the first place, keeping the dew factor in mind.
The confident RCB’s batting lineup with the highest internal hit percentage will have a slight advantage in the struggling Mumbai team.
Team (from):
Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Robin Minz, Ryan Rickelton, Shrijith Krishnan, Bevon Jacobs, Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Will Jacks, Mitchell Santner, Raj Angad Bawa, Vignesh Puthur, Corbin Bosch, Trent Boult, Karn Sharma, Deepak Chahar, Ashwani Kumar, Reece Topley, VS Penmetsa, Arjun Tendulkar, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Jasprit Bumrah.
Royal Challenger Bangladesh: Rajat Patida (C), Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chhikara, Liam Livingstone, Krunal Pandya, Swapnil Pandyh, Tim Tim Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Nuwan Thashar, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh, Mohit Rathee, Yash Dayal.
The competition begins at 7:30 pm.
