It will be a battle of stars when hosts and five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) take on defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Wankhede Stadium tonight. Two batting stalwarts — MI’s Rohit Sharma and RCB’s Virat Kohli — will be up against each other, with everyone expecting a top-class show from both.
Apart from Kohli, the visitors will also rely on their in-form captain Rajat Patidar (142 runs in three games), big-hitter Tim David and Devdutt Padikkal. MI, too, boast of a strong opening pair in Rohit and Ryan Rickelton, who shared a 148-run stand while chasing Kolkata Knight Riders’s 220-4 at Wankhede recently.
Kieron Pollard. Pic/Satej Shinde
RCB, however, have a strong bowling attack featuring Jacob Duffy (five wickets), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (four) and Josh Hazlewood (two). It will also be interesting to see whether left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya (four), who has been in the news for bowling effective bouncers, uses similar tactics against his brother and MI captain Hardik Pandya.
MI began well, winning their opening match against KKR at home, but thereafter lost two away games, to Delhi Capitals in Delhi and Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Guwahati. RCB too started strongly, winning their first two matches against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings, but like MI, they too suffered a heavy defeat to a Vaibhav Sooryavanshi-inspired RR in Guwahati.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya at the Wankhede nets on Saturday. Pic/Atul Kamble
Interestingly, opponents generally look to capitalise on 16 overs against MI, barring the four challenging overs from star pacer Jasprit Bumrah. However, RCB must be relieved that Bumrah is yet to claim a wicket after three games this season. In the first three games, Bumrah has bowled 11 overs, conceding 88 runs at an economy of 8.00. MI batting coach Kieron Pollard, however, insisted that the hosts are not worried about Bumrah’s wicketless run. “Sometimes the best form of attack is also defence. We’re not looking too much into the wicketless nature of Jasprit Bumrah. If the ball is going at 100 knots out of the ground, you don’t want to fight fire with fire, right? You want to try something different. In our camp, we are not concerned about Jasprit Bumrah. There’s no issue,” Pollard said during the pre-match press conference on Saturday.
Meanwhile, most MI players, including their pacers, skipped the optional practice session on Saturday at Wankhede. Patidar’s RCB, who lost to RR by six wickets in Guwahati on Friday night, will also head into tonight’s clash without a practice session at the venue.
RCB captain Rajat Patidar. Pic/IPL
Five
No. of matches MI have won against RCB in their last six meetings at Wankhede; RCB have won once
Four
No. of consecutive times MI and RCB will meet at the Wankhede since 2023 (without playing in Bengaluru); MI have won two, while RCB have won one
