Dubai: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will lock horns with Mumbai Indians (MI) in Dubai on Monday (September 28). With a win in their previous encounter against Kolkata Knight Riders, MI would be upbeat to continue the momentum.
On the other hand, RCB are coming into this game after a drubbing at the hands of Kings XI Punjab and would be keen to bring their campaign back on track. Mumbai are satisfied with the form of Suryakumar Yadav, with the talented batsman has been an important part of MI’s setup for the last few years.
Skipper Rohit Sharma led the team from the front by scoring a brilliant 80 against KKR. The overseas pair of fast bowlers – Trent Boult and James Pattinson – have also been amongst the wickets, providing strength to the bowling lineup, led by Jasprit Bumrah. However, after an all-round performance against KKR, it is highly unlikely that Mumbai Indians will tweak with their playing XI.
Meanwhile, RCB have a lot of concernment to identify. After a brilliant comeback from the RCB bowlers in their opening match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, the Virat Kohli-led side was devastated by a huge defeat against KXIP.
Except for Yuzvendra Chahal, all the RCB bowlers were taken to the cleaners by KL Rahul, who put up a memorable 69-ball 132*. Chasing a vast target of 207, the RCB batsmen failed to keep up with the ever-increasing asking rate and were eventually left the ground for just 109 runs.
For Virat, he’s not found his form yet in the tournament, and all eyes will be on him to put up a great performance and lead the team from the front under his captaincy. There are a lot of players whose place in the playing XI is under serious threat. Joshua Phillippe hasn’t portrayed at all in the chances that he has got so far and the young Australian might make way for Moeen Ali.
Parthiv Patel will be back behind the stumps replacing the under-utilised Washington Sundar. However, it will be interesting to see where Parthiv plays in the batting order, given that young Devdutt Padikkal and Aaron Finch have opened the batting in the last two games.
A major concern for RCB though is their fast bowling. Umesh Yadav and Dale Steyn have leaked runs both in the powerplay stages, as well as at the death. There’s a chance that Mohammad Siraj might replace Umesh in the playing XI. There is not much lucidity around Chris Morris’ fitness.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Parthiv Patel, Josh Philippe, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Aaron Finch, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Devdutt Padikal, Pavan Deshpande, Chris Morris, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa, Dale Steyn, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Isuru Udana, Mohammed Siraj, Pawan Negi.
Mumbai Indians: Aditya Tare, Quinton de Kock, Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, 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.
