We are at Wankhede on the last day of the month followed by Maharashtra Day. Mumbai would want to give their fans a perfect gift on the eve of Maharashtra Day when they face Rajasthan Royals who dont seem to do a thing wrong this season.
Head to Head Record: MI has won 15 matches while RR has won 13 Matches
Rajasthan Royals.
The Royals have got a perfect combination this season and would look to do one better than what they did last season. They have all the bases covered this season. Dhruv Jurel's inclusion has instilled a fresh energy in the group which was missing with Riyan Parag for few years now. Buttler and Jaiswal have provided a dream start in most of the games which has helped them lay a nice foundation for the likes of Hetmyer and Jurel to finish off the innings. RR have utilized the Impact Sub rule in the best way possible bringing in Padikkal or Zampa according to the toss.
Mumbai Indians
MI would be pumped up for this game considering its Rohit Sharma's birthday and Maharashtra Day on the 1st of May. Rohit would certainly want to celebrate his birthday with a win. It is also the 1000th game of the IPL and it is fitting that Mumbai are a part of it who have given so much to the IPL over the years. MI are coming back off two losses and if they are to get back in contention for top 4, they need to win this game anyhow. Mumbai are known to make miraculous comebacks and we might just see one today.
Players to watch out for
Jos Buttler.
Guy has played for Mumbai Indians on this ground and has scored loads of runs at the iconic Wankhede stadium and might keep up his goal scoring form considering how vulnerable Mumbai are without Bumrah this season. If Jos Buttler gets going, there will be mountains to climb for Mumbai Indians to get back in the game.
Rohit Sharma
Getting to play on a flat wicket in front of the home crowd on your birthday. What more does anyone need. Christmas has come early for Rohit Sharma. Even Santa cannot gift him what BCCI has gifted him with. Its upon him to treat his fans with a wonderful birthday party now. Whole of Mumbai and Maharashtra is waiting for a big knock from their favourite son. It remains to be seen if Rohit treats his fans with a wonderful dinner and a perfect dessert or crumbles under the weights of expectation.
Playing XI:
Mumbai Indian: Rohit Sharma (C), Ishan Kishan (WK), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Verma, Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Riley Meredith, Arjun Tendulkar, Piyush Chawla, Jason Behrendorff. (Impact Player: Kumar Kartikeya)
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Butter, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (C)(WK), Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, R Ashwin, Jason Holder, Adam Zampa, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sandeep Sharma. (Impact Player:Kuldip Yadav)
Interesting Facts
This is the 1000th IPL Match and Rohit Sharma is celebrating his 36th Birthday too
The last time both Trent Boult and Jofra Archer played against each other, they played for the opposite sides.
Suryakumar Yadav will be playing his 250th T20 Match
Yashasvi Jaiswal will be playing his 50th T20 Innings
Ravichandran Ashwin (298) needs 2 more wickets to complete 300 T20 Wickets
Yuzvendra Chahal (178) needs 6 more wickets to become the All the Highest Wicket Taker in IPL Surpassing Dwayne Bravo (183)
Pitch Report:
Wankhede is the Batting Friendly Venue. The Average score at the venue this season is 185. With the dew coming into picture, the toss winning side would prefer to field first
Dream XI Team
