Abu Dhabi: Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will eye a winning return as they square off in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday (October 28).
While MI are coming into this game on the back of their 8-wicket loss against Rajasthan Royals (RR), this will be RCB’s first game since their loss against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Both the teams have played 11 games each, have 7 wins against their name and are currently in the top half of the points table.
The last time these two teams faced each other, we witnessed a Super Over-thriller in Dubai. After RCB scored 201/3 on the back of fifties from Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch and AB de Villiers, MI made a stunning recovery, courtesy Ishan Kishan’s 99 and Kieron Pollard’s unbeaten fifty to tie the scores before RCB came out on top in the Super Over.
While RCB will be looking to secure their second win of the season against MI, MI will be seeking to avenge that loss and as these two teams go head to head, here are the players who could make difference to the outcome of the game.
7 sixes and 2 fours. Hardik Pandya put on a show with the bat as he bludgeoned unbeaten 60 off 21 balls against RR. Hardik cleared the fence with utter ease and his big-hitting prowess will be something that MI will bank on as they face RCB.
With 415 runs against his name, Virat Kohli has been his side’s leading run-getter in this IPL season. The RCB skipper scored a fifty in his side’s last game against CSK and he will be eager to have another fine outing with the bat as he takes on the likes of Jaspirt Bumrah, Trent Boult and Co.
While he did not score many in MI’s last game against RR, Quinton de Kock, with 374 runs to his name, has been someone MI have been banking on with the bat. The left-hander, who has scored four fifties this season, will be looking to set the ball rolling for his side when it faces RCB.
Chris Morris’ presence has added more firepower to RCB’s bowling. The South African all-rounder has bowled well at the start as well as at the death and has picked 10 wickets from six matches. He will be someone that RCB will turn to when they face the likes of de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik and Pollard.
No ground is big enough for these two when it comes to tonking those big sixes. While AB de Villiers slammed unbeaten 55 off 24 balls, Kieron Pollard hammered 60* from 24 balls when RCB and MI met the last time. Both the sides will be hoping that the two big hitters come good and if that happens, it will be a spectacle.
Mumbai at this venue has played 8, won 5, lost 3. RCB at this venue has played 3, won 2, lost 1. Few approaching achievements by MI and RCB are: Jasprit Bumrah needs 1 wicket to complete 100 IPL wickets, Ishan Kishan requires 7 runs to complete 1000 IPL runs, Aaron Finch needs 27 runs to complete 2000 IPL runs, AB de Villiers requires 39 runs to complete 750 IPL runs against MI.
The Squads:
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (C), Aditya Tare, Quinton de Kock, Ishan Kishan, Saurabh Tiwary, Chris Lynn, Suryakumar Yadav, Anmolpreet Singh, Sherfane Rutherford, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Anukul Sudhakar Roy, Dhawal Kulkarni, James Pattinson, Mitchell McClenaghan, Trent Boult, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Chahar, Mohsin Khan, Digvijay Deshmukh, Prince Balwant Rai.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers (WK), Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Shivam Dube, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Washington Sundar, Isuru Udana, Navdeep Saini, Adam Zampa, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umesh Yadav, Dale Steyn, Parthiv Patel, Moeen Ali, Pawan Negi, Chris Morris, Pavan Deshpande, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Philippe, Shahbaz Ahmed.
