Mumbai Indians will host Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Wankhede Stadium today, Thursday, in Match 25 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, a desperate battle for survival in the playoff race.
Both the outfits have a huge fan following in the IPL but their performances this season have been anything but big. Both teams have lost four games in five outings, but MI, at least, are fresh from tasting a victory. RCB, on the other hand, have nothing but faint memories of the triumphant feeling, opaqued by three successive defeats
The Men in Red last won a match 15 days back on March 25 against the Punjab Kings. It remains the sole victory in their dismal campaign. Since then, Faf du Plessis' men have suffered a hat-trick of losses and by the looks of it appear incapable of conjuring a winning formula.
There is nothing much to separate the two sides in the league standings. RCB are a spot below MI in the ninth position, the unpleasant stat for both the teams makes this battle all the more interesting.
RCB must shed dependency on Virat Kohli
With one century and two fifties in four outings, Virat Kohli has been the lone bright spot in RCB's horrendous campaign. The Indian maestro is way ahead of the pack in the Orange Cap race with 316 runs. He must be desperate to see others join the party to save RCB's season from falling apart.
The onus now lies on RCB's foreign superstars, including skipper du Plessis (109 runs), Glenn Maxwell (32) and Cameron Green (68) to support the Indian talisman and more importantly the team's cause.
Despite all the negativity surrounding RCB's campaign, Kohli would aim to do what he does the best: scoring runs. Five months after his milestone 50th ODI century in the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand in Mumbai, Kohli would eye another memorable performance at the same venue.
RCB must overcome bowling woes
None of the frontline bowlers have made an impact for the Royal Challengers. That part-time spinner Glenn Maxwell is their second leading wicket-taker, behind Yash Dayal, says enough about the sorry state of affairs. The Indian pace unit comprising Mohammed Siraj, Akashdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, and Yash Dayal must step up for their team. The same goes for the foreign recruits, including Alzarri Joseph, Lockie Ferguson and Reece Topley.
Can MI ride on the winning momentum?
Starting the season on a poor note has kind of become a habit for MI, who would look to grab the opportunity to build upon their success against the Capitals to move further up in the points table.
MI are all too familiar with slow starts and a fixture against the deflated RCB side could prove to be ideal for the five-time champions. A win over RCB would act as a major confidence booster for Sunday's clash against defending champions and fellow five-time title holders Chennai Super Kings.
MI's batting in focus
While Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan have not been at their explosive best, they have done enough to set the scoring tempo at the top. For the innings to reach a satisfactory conclusion, MI's middle order needs to carry the momentum forward.
Facing the ire of the MI fans, Hardik Pandya has done very little to help himself after a series of below-par performances both as a leader and as an all-rounder.
Suryakumar Yadav's return from a long injury lay-off didn't go according to plan but his presence in the line-up in itself is a massive boost for the home team. The top-ranked T20 batter won't get a better bowling attack than the Challengers to regain his touch.
Bowlers not gelling as unit
If MI are languishing lower on the table, the bowling unit's inability to deliver collectively is one of the key factors. While Gerald Coetzee has complemented pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah well, other MI bowlers have not been up to the mark. Akash Madhwal had one good match with 3/20 against Rajasthan Royals, but other bowlers must step up in the crucial match.
MI vs RCB: Head-to-head
Mumbai dominated the overall record with 18 wins against RCB's 14 in 32 meetings. But the Men in Red boast a superb record in recent clashes, winning four of their last five matches.
MI vs RCB Squads:
Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Dewald Brevis, Jasprit Bumrah, Piyush Chawla, Gerald Coetzee, Tim David, Shreyas Gopal, Ishan Kishan (wk), Anshul Kamboj, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal, Kwena Maphaka, Mohammad Nabi, Shams Mulani, Naman Dhir, Shivalik Sharma, Romario Shepherd, Arjun Tendulkar, Nuwan Thushara, Tilak Varma, Vishnu Vinod, Nehal Wadhera, Luke Wood.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Faf du Plessis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Cameron Green, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh, Saurav Chauhan.
Match starts at 7.30 pm IST.
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