Two of the richest teams in the IPL, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore take on each other later this evening. Neither has had a great season so far and have lost as much as they have won.
RCB comes off after picking up two back-to-back wins after a series of defeats. Mumbai Indians were demolished by Sunrisers Hyderabad. It’s fair to say that both sides would be desperate for a win.
Royal Challengers Bangalore have underperformed in IPL 2016, but one cannot blame the batsmen for it. With the exception of Chris Gayle, the RCB batting lineup has really fired, especially Virat Kohli, Shane Watson and AB de Villiers, the top guns.
But the bowling has been completely woeful, to say the least. Apart from Shane Watson, every RCB bowler has gone for over 9 runs an over. Their bowling has been so loose that it is almost pathetic. This just goes to show that you may have the best batsmen in the world, but if your bowling isn’t any good, you’re really going to struggle.
The Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore is partly to blame for this. RCB play most of their matches here and have struggled on its small outfield and flat pitch. The RCB bowling will once again be severely tested against the powerful Mumbai Indians batting lineup. Well, maybe not quite so powerful given how they collapsed to 92 all out against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the last match!
For Mumbai Indians, Rohit Sharma has performed, but only in chases. Jos Buttler and Kieron Pollard have shown a lot of promise, but failed to deliver. It is young guns such as Krunal Pandya and Ambati Rayudu who have performed for them. But it is clear that they have some glaring weaknesses in their line-up, such as Hardik Pandya, who hasn’t done much either with the bat or the ball.
Shane Watson has arguably been the most valuable played in the RCB side and his performance with both the bat and the ball has been impeccable. He has fully justified his price tag of Rs. 9.5 crore. RCB would be tempted to bring in Chris Gayle in place of Travis Head, who hasn’t really done much of note in this IPL.
For Mumbai Indians, Ambati Rayudu has established himself as a solid no. 3. But they could do with a performance from their international stars, Pollard and Butler.
Bowling is a major concern for RCB and England fast bowler Chris Jordan hasn’t really done much to impress anyone in this IPL. They might consider playing the South Africa left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi instead.
The Teams
Royal Challengers Bangalore : 1 Virat Kohli (capt), 2 Chris Gayle/ Travis Head, 3 KL Rahul (wk), 4 AB de Villiers, 5 Shane Watson, 6 Sachin Baby, 7 Stuart Binny, 8 Chris Jordan/Tabraiz Shamsi, 9 Iqbal Abdulla, 10 Varun Aaron, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal
Mumbai Indians : 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Parthiv Patel (wk), 3 Ambati Rayudu, 4 Krunal Pandya, 5 Jos Buttler/ Martin Guptill, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Tim Southee/ Corey Anderson, 10 Mitchell McClenaghan, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
Match Conditions
There is a possibility of rain in Bangalore this evening, so the match could well be a rain curtailed one. The Chinnaswamy Stadium is known for its high scoring, so expect a run fest if the match is held as scheduled.
Watch Royal Challengers Bangalore play Mumbai Indians tonight at 8:00 pm LIVE on Sony Six!
