Abu Dhabi: Mumbai Indians will be eyeing a third win in a row when they face Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Tuesday (October 6) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
While the Rohit Sharma-led unit defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by 34 runs after scoring 208, they came out trumps against Kings XI Punjab, beating KL Rahul and Co. by 48 runs. Royals, on the other hand, registered two wins from as many games at the start of the tournament against KXIP and Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
But they lost their last two games – against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), while setting up the total, and against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) while chasing the target. The Steve Smith-led side will be out to break the two-match losing streak while MI will be eager to complete a hat-trick of wins to register their fourth win this season.
The Royals duo of Steve Smith and Sanju Samson has been exceptionally good, but Jos Buttler is still struggling to stain his name at the top of the order. While Jofra Archer’s fiery spells have worked as a catalyst to their moto, Royals would be quite anxious for their fragile middle order as Robin Uthappa and Riyan Parag are yet not in form for the competition.
Although Ben Stokes’ arrival provides support for the Royals but he will be unavailable for the game against the much-hyped Mumbai. Riding on the excellence and proficiency of Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard, MI have six points in five games and look good for another top-four finish.
Openers Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock have also shown their abilities for this tournament, and their trusted bowling unit has also done their bit. It would be tough to look past the Mumbai Indians against the Royals on Tuesday, but the four-time IPL champions’ head-to-head record against RR creates a different scenario as both have eleven wins in 12 seasons of the IPL.
If this is any indication of things to come, we should be in for a very competitive clash between two explosive batting units. The fans are waiting to witness a cracking encounter of both sides.
Squads
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (C), Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, James Pattinson, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Chris Lynn, Saurabh Tiwary, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Sherfane Rutherford, Jayant Yadav, Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Mohsin Khan, Digvijay Deshmukh, Prince Balwant Rai
Rajasthan Royals: Steve Smith (Captain), Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes, Robin Uthappa, David Miller, Ankit Rajpoot, Mahipal Lomror, Manan Vohra, Riyan Parag, Mayank Markande, Shreyas Gopal, Varun Aaron, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi, Akash Singh, Oshane Thomas, Andrew Tye, Rahul Tewatia, Shashank Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anirudha Joshi, Tom Curran and Anuj Rawat.
