Sharma, Rohit. A Virat Kohli. Du Plessis Faf. by Glenn Maxwell. The Jofra Archer. The M Chinnaswamy Stadium will host some of the greatest stars in cricket on Sunday night for the highly anticipated IPL 2023 match between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians.
Even though MI has won the IPL five times, RCB has recently had better performances. RCB will begin their quest for a first championship in front of their home fans after winning three of their previous five matches since the start of the IPL 2020.
Nevertheless, RCB has been plagued by injuries to important players, notably Josh Hazlewood and Rajat Patidar, who will both be out for at least the first half of the season.
Also, Aussie Glenn Maxwell is a questionable starter.
Although Will Jacks of England will miss the whole season, it will be interesting to watch how Maxwell performs after missing Australia’s final two ODIs against India in the most recent series after playing the opening game in Mumbai.
Patidar finished third on the RCB’s scoring list last season with 333 runs in eight games at an average of 55.50, including two fifties. In Qualifier 1, he scored the quickest century by an Indian in the IPL. Hazlewood, an Australian bowler, was the team’s second-best performer, having taken 20 wickets in 20 games.
Moreover, the RCB will have to wait for their Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga, who is currently serving his country in New Zealand. He will miss some of the first games.
But, the late addition of Michael Bracewell from New Zealand is anticipated to provide RCB an aggressive hitter further down the order. Dinesh Karthik’s presence lower in the order also makes RCB a nervous team.
Harshal Patel and Mohammed Siraj will be the strike bowlers, with captain Faf du Plessis and former captain Virat Kohli likely to carry the load in the top-order batting.
Du Plessis ended the first SA20 as the second-most productive hitter with 369 runs last month, while Kohli, who has recently seen success in white-ball cricket, will try to ignite the IPL stage once again.
Reece Topley’s addition has given RCB’s bowling a boost by giving them a competent left-arm pacer with a variety of strengths for the shortest format.
With just four victories to their name after 14 games, Mumbai Indians finished the previous IPL season in bottom place in the points standings. Mumbai, the most successful team in IPL history with five titles to their name, will try to compete at their highest level against a tough RCB outfit.
MI’s hopes will be focused on Jofra Archer to fill the vacuum and mentor the other bowlers that the club management has designated since their star bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Jhye Richardson are sidelined for the season. Together with Akash Madhwal, Jason Behrendorff of Australia will be Archer’s companion.
The Mumbai Indians’ batting lineup, which currently includes youthful players like Tilak Verma, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, and Tim David, will be led by captain Rohit Sharma and the seasoned Suryakumar Yadav. Ishan Kishan, who is also the team’s designated wicketkeeper, will be required to develop consistency with the bat.
Despite the arrival of Cameron Green, the Mumbai Indians seem to be lacking in spinners. Former India spinner Piyush Chawla is leading the pack, which also includes Kumar Kartikeya, who served as a kind of tryout for the team last year with four matches.
Whole Squads
Shahbaz Ahmed, Anuj Rawat, Akash Deep, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Suyash Prabhudesai, Karn Sharma, Siddarth Kaul, David Willey, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Sonu Yadav, and Michael Bracewell make up the RCB. Faf du Plessis is the captain.
MI: Arjun Tendulkar, Ramandeep Singh, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera, Hrithik Shokeen, Arshad Khan, Duan Jansen, Piyush Chawla, Kumar Kartikeya, Raghav Goyal, Jofra Archer, Jason Behrendorff, Akash Madhwal, Tim David, Dewald Brevis, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Cameron Green,