Overview:
Time: 7:30 PM
Date: 9th April 2022
Venue: Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium, Pune
Royal Challengers Bangalore: After losing their opening match to PBKS, RCB bounced back with 2 back-to-back wins, thanks to Dinesh Karthik’s excellent finishing. With 2 Wins in 3 games, they are placed right at the center of the points table and a win will ensure they are in the top 4.
DK, at the moment, is in great touch having scored 90 Runs at 200+ Strike Rate and has not been dismissed yet. Youngster Shahbaz Ahmed is showing the spark. Add Glenn Maxwell, who will be available for the selection from this match, their side looks even more firm. The only worry for them should be Virat Kohli’s returns which are not very exciting.
Mumbai Indians: They have lost all 3 matches they have played so far. Not that, they have not been in a similar situation before, instead they have a habit of shaky starts but they have come back hard and even the trophy from there, but this time the scenario is different as 2 more sides have been added to the tournament and hence the competition is more stiff. There is a possibility that a side might fail to qualify after winning 8 matches, so they can’t afford to lose another match. Currently, CSK and SRH accompanies MI with 0 points on the table, but one of them is sure to open their account before this match as CSK and SRH will lock horns in the afternoon game.
Like Virat Kohli, even Rohit Sharma too is yet to score a half-century in the 3 matches and averages a mere 18.00. However, his lack of big scores have been superbly covered by Ishan Kishan, his opening partner. Also, Suryakumar Yadav’s addition and Pollard’s power hitting have still made their batting stable but their main problem lies in their bowling. Beside Bumrah, the entire bowling unit looks toothless and unless somebody steps up, they will have a tough time this season in the absence of Jofra Archer.
Probable XI:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis (C), Anuj Rawat, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Sherfane Rutherford, Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (C), Ishan Kishan (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Kieron Pollard, Dewald Brevis, Fabian Allen, M Ashwin, Tymal Mills, Basil Thampi, Jasprit Bumrah
Pitch Report:
The surface is batting friendly with an average total of 175 this season. Spinners are going to get assistance from the pitch. Though dew will come into the picture in the second innings, 2 out of the 3 matches played here were won by team batting first. But still the team winning toss must be eager to field first considering the fact that RCB won both their matches chasing while their only loss came while defending which means RCB would want to chase again while MI would like put RCB to defend.
Interesting Facts:
- Rohit Sharma is the highest run scorer in T20I with 3313 Runs while Virat Kohli is the 3rd highest run scorer with 3296 Runs. But in IPL, the positions of both are exactly the opposite – Virat Kohli is highest runs scorer with 6341 Runs and Rohit Sharma sits at 3rd position with 5665 Runs.
- RCB’s last win against the RR was their 100th Win, excluding the 2 wins by Super Overs
- Pollard is the only batsman currently to have smashed more sixes (218) than fours (215) among all the batsmen with 1000+ Runs in IPL. Interesting until his last match his no. of boundaries and Sixes were equal but his 3 Maximums during his 5 ball 22, made the difference.
- Rohit Sharma needs just 51 Runs to complete 10000 T20 Runs.
- Dinesh Karthik (4136 Runs) needs 82 Runs to surpass Gautam Gambhir (4217 Runs) in All Time IPL Run Scorers List. If he does so, he will enter the Top 10 in the Elite List.
- Pollard is just 4 Catches away to grab 100 IPL Catches and become just the 2nd Player to reach the Milestone after Suresh Raina (109 Catches)
Dream XI:
