IPL 2021 : MI V RR Match Preview & Probable XIs

MI V DC – HEAD TO HEAD : 25 MATCHES

MI WON : 12, RR WON : 12, NR : 1

Mumbai Indians have managed just two wins out of five games they have played so far. The defending champions are known to be slow starters but everyone expected them to be invincible, considering their previous season’s performance. They haven’t quite come into their own as of now and would look to sort things out as the Delhi leg begins.

For Rajasthan Royals, things have gone from bad to worse. After the injuries to Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes, which ruled them out of the IPL, Liam Livingstone and Andrew Tye have also left the squad. They also have 2 wins from 5 games and are currently ranked No.7 on the points table. They have had a great success against the defending champions in recent times, winning five out of six games.

MI’s middle order struggled quite badly on the dry and sluggish surfaces at Chepauk. Conditions in Delhi are expected to be somewhat similar and it again poses a challenge for them. The Pandya brothers have been out of form. Keiron Pollard has blown hot and cold. Mumbai need this trio to step up and do what they have been doing for years.

Rohit Sharma – the batsman has made his presence felt. He has led from the front and played some crucial knocks in Chennai where the other batsmen struggled. He is currently the leading scorer for MI and they would expect him to continue this way.  

Royals are coming off a clinical win over KKR. Their bowlers did a great job to restrict KKR to a subpar total. Sanju Samson played a sensible knock and made sure that his team gets those 2 points. They would want Jos Buttler to hit the straps. He is yet to contribute with the bat and he would fancy his chances against MI. He has had a good run against them, scoring 259 runs at an average of 86.33 including 3 fifties.

The conditions in Delhi are expected to be hot and humid. The pitches there have provided assistance to the spinners of late. It is an afternoon game, so dew won’t be much of a factor in deciding things at the toss. Team winning the toss is expected to bat first given the tracks slow down as the game progresses.

MI v RR TEAM NEWS

Quinton de Kock and Ishan Kishan have failed to make significant impacts and their places would be under the scanner with Chris Lynn and Saurabh Tiwary waiting for their chance. However, expect MI to go in with the same combination. These two played a major role in Mumbai’s campaign last year and the management would like to give them a longer run.

There’s nothing much RR can do with their team combination. They might think of playing a leg spinner in Shreyas Gopal given Rohit and QDK’s struggles against leg spin early in the innings. He might replace Jaydev Unadkat in the XI.

MI v RR – Probabale XIs :

MI : Quinton de Kock, Rohit Sharma (C), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult

RR : Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (C), Shivam Dube, David Miller, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Shreyas Gopal/Jaydev Unadkat, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya