IPL 10, Match 38, MI v RCB Preview: Mumbai Indians a win away from booking playoffs berth

The Mumbai Indians have been one of the top two sides in this edition of the IPL along with the Kolkata Knight Riders. They have emerged out to be the team to beat this season. With a very settled lineup that has seen all the departments clicking for them in tandem this season, Mumbai look like the firm favorites to make it to the playoffs. MI have 14 points to their names and are just a win away from qualifying for the playoffs.

Amidst this situation, they head back to their fortress at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. They have a phenomenal record at the venue and have lost on only one occasion at the venue this year thus far. Barring the odd loss to Rising Pune Supergiant, they have ensured that the sea of blue remains satisfied with their performance. In the encounter where they return to the venue, Mumbai Indians will be up against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

RCB have had a dismal run in the tournament thus far. They are almost out of the tournament. Even if they win all their remaining fixtures, they can still not make it to the playoffs. They will have to depend on complex calculations and the results of the other matches to find their outside chance of making it to the playoff. The last time these two sides met in the competition, it was MI who had registered a 4 wicket win at Bengaluru.

Coming into this game, MI is expected to be the firm favorites against the struggling RCB. Having said that, it is worth noting that the RCB camp has nothing to lose and hence would want to play fearless cricket from their end.

Toss: Royal Challengers Bangalore won the toss and opted to bat

Quotes from the toss:

Rohit Sharma: “We were going to bat as well. We wanted to change things a bit, but now we got to execute well. Harbhajan is out with injury, Karn Sharma in playing.”

Virat Kohli: “We are going to bat first. It is difficult to bowl during the day. It’s all about finding the right combinations, unfortunately we haven’t been able to do that. Three changes for us. Shane Watson in for Samuel Badree, Mandeep is back in place of Sachin Baby and Aniket replaces Binny.”

Playing XI:

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Travis Head, Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers, Shane Watson, Mandeep Singh, Kedar Jadhav(w), Pawan Negi, Adam Milne, Sreenath Aravind, Aniket Choudhary, Yuzvendra Chahal

Mumbai Indians: Parthiv Patel(w), Jos Buttler, Nitish Rana, Rohit Sharma(c), Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Karn Sharma, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga

Focus will be on

Rohit Sharma

Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma had shown fine form and class when he hit his maiden fifty of the season against the Rising Pune Supergiant. The fans believed that Rohit has certainly got back to form and hoped that he will lead from the front in the games that follow. However, a low score in the game against the Gujarat Lions has put a full stop to their hopes. Sharma perished for yet another single digit score this season. More importantly, he struggled largely against the leg-spinner Ankit Soni in the game. The leg spinners have been a nemesis for him this season.

Virat Kohli

RCB skipper Virat Kohli was the lone ranger when he scored a 55 against the Rising Pune Supergiant in the previous game. All other batsmen failed to get to the double digits and that pretty much summed up their season thus far. The RCB batting depends heavily on Kohli. If Kohli fails on a given day, the team suffers massive embarrassment. Had Kohli not stayed at the crease in the previous game, the team would have bundled out for another low score. All eyes would be on Kohli to how he motivates his team now.

AB de Villiers

It is high time that RCB middle order starts firing. Their over-reliance on the openers has been costing them too dearly. AB had started off the season on a high but failed to replicate his performances in the matches that followed. Now, the hard hitting veteran batsman needs to stand up for the team’s cause and help them avoid any further embarrassment in the tournament. AB de Villiers is yet to come good for the team in the last few fixtures that he has played and has succumbed to pressure situations.

Team Combinations:

Mumbai Indians

It is very unlikely that the Mumbai Indians will tinker with their winning combination. They have absolutely no reason to change the perfectly set lineup. The batsmen have been getting runs for them and the bowlers have been bowling immaculately too. Moreover, the fact that the team loves to stick to the same lineup over long stretches only strengthens this claim.

The bowling department needs to step up to the occasion. On most occasions, they have seen one bowler proving to be very expensive in every game. Mitch McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah, and Lasith Malinga look very threatening on the paper. MI spinners Harbhajan Singh and Krunal Pandya have been very economical with the ball and have been choking the run-flow in the middle overs.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

The Royal Challengers Bangalore have tried everything possible that they could this season. None of their permutations and combinations have clicked for them thus far. Skipper Virat Kohli is bound to have selection conundrums. The biggest question would be to choose between playing their best side or to try out their bench strength. Expect Shane Watson to be back in the frame at the expense of Travis Head.

Adam Milne might make way for the English speedster Tymal Mills, who did not play the previous game due to a back spasm. Samuel Badree and Yuzvendra Chahal have been the only successful bowlers for RCB in the season thus far. The batting boasts of heavyweights but none in form barring Kohli. Players like Sachin Baby and Stuart Binny need to take their opportunities and make them count.

StatAttack:

1 – Number of wickets needed by Lasith Malinga to complete 150 IPL wickets.

3 – Number of RCB batsmen with 20 or more fifties in the IPL (Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, and Virat Kohli).

20 – Number of times the two teams have faced each other. MI have won on 12 occasions and RCB have 8 wins to their name against this opposition.

687 – Number of runs scored by AB de Villiers in IPL 2016 – the second most by an RCB batsman after Virat Kohli’s 973. This year, he has scored only 153 runs in 6 matches.