IPL 2021: MI v RCB Preview & Probable XIs

Head to Head – MI v RCB : 27 Matches

• MI won : 17, RCB won: 10

In their last 10 encounters, MI have been victorious on 8 occasions.

It’s that time of the year again when you can sense the excitement among the cricket fans. It’s been only 5 months and the IPL is back again! The two stalwarts of the Indian cricket will lead their teams in the inaugural match of IPL 2021. It’s Rohit Sharma Vs Virat Kohli on a weekend. What else do you need?

Talking about the teams, Mumbai Indians have retained their core which won them two consecutive titles and had a quiet auction. They had some concerns in the spin department and they would think that addition of Piyush Chawla should solve it. Quinton De Kock has joined the MI camp but he might not be available for the first game. Chris Lynn could make his debut for MI and replace him at the top. Hardik Pandya returning to bowling is a huge positive for MI and this will give them an extra cushion in the bowling.

 Royal Challengers Bangalore on the other hand, spent quite a few bucks in the auction. Kyle Jamieson and Glenn Maxwell were two of the costliest buys this season and RCB would be banking on them if they have to change their fortunes this time around.

Maxwell though comes with a tag of unpredictability – On his day can take any bowling attack apart with his range of shots on both sides of the wicket, the reason you would always want him to be in your T20 side. RCB would hope that he plays his role to the perfection so that Kohli and ABD can play more freely. Jamieson too would be eager to make an impact straightaway with his all-round capabilities. Adjusting to Indian conditions would surely be a challenge for him. They also have BBL legend Dan Christian in their ranks and he could straightaway come into the playing XI.

The defending champions haven’t won their first game of the season since 2012. MI fans may argue that it’s their modus operandi to lose the first match of the season and then begin with their IPL proceedings but MI would surely want to fix this issue. Apart from this, they would want Rohit Sharma the batsman to step up. Rohit has only accumulated 1356 runs in 58 innings in the last 4 seasons and surely these numbers don’t do justice to the name Rohit Sharma has earned in the T20 cricket. MI as always seem to have all the bases covered and look well set for their third consecutive title.

RCB always seem to have assembled a strong squad in the beginning of the season but they somehow haven’t managed to get it right on the field in all these years. Death bowling still remains a concern for them and Jamieson’s numbers in the recently concluded series against Pakistan wouldn’t please them much. Batting has never been their issue. Kohli and Padikkal opening the batting with ABD and Maxwell to follow is a dream T20 batting line-up.

The Chepauk surface has always been on the slower side and is expected to aid the spinners. So the teams might go with 2 specialist spinners. MI might play both Rahul Chahar and Piyush Chawla given Kohli and ABD’s recent struggles against the leg spin. Washington sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal will handle RCB’s spin department.

All in all, an interesting match awaits us and both the teams would want to start on a good note.

Probable XIs :

MI: Rohit Sharma ( C ), Chris Lynn, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Piyush Chawla, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah

RCB: Virat Kohli ( C ), Devdutt Padikkal, AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Dan Christian, Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Navdeep Saini, Mohammad Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal