Published: Apr 15, 2019, 07:33 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 15, 2019, 07:35 PM (IST)
Mumbai Indians’ skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Match 31 of the IPL 2019 at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Monday.
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan(w), Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Jason Behrendorff, Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Parthiv Patel(w), Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers, Marcus Stoinis, Moeen Ali, Akshdeep Nath, Pawan Negi, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj
MI have picked up steam after initially showing signs of inconsistency. What makes them a stiff opposition is the fact that they don’t seem to give up easily. It is the same spirit that got them a hat-trick of wins and almost a fourth against the Rajasthan Royals and it’s what tips the scale in their favour. Their prime agenda should be to dismiss Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers cheaply, for without them firing, RCB’s batting has looked fragile.
Similarly, RCB’s biggest challenge will be to try and figure a way to tame Mumbai’s explosive batting line-up. Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock returned to form against Rajasthan Royals the other evening, in addition to the Kieron Pollard threat. Mumbai’s lower order has always bailed them out of trouble, with RCB will require to counter Hardik Pandya’s belligerent batting in the death.
Quinton de Kock, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers (VICE CAPTAIN), Suryakumar Yadav, Moeen Ali, Hardik Pandya (CAPTAIN), Krunal Padnya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga
Mumbai vs Bangalore Probable XI
MI Probable XI: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Rohit Sharma (capt), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Yuvraj Singh/Ishan Kishan, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Rahul Chahar, 9, Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Lasith Malinga 11 Jason Behrendorff
Bangalore Probable XI: Probable XI: 1 Parthiv Patel (wk), 2 Virat Kohli (capt), 3 AB de Villiers, 4 Marcus Stoinis, 5 Moeen Ali, 6 Akshdeep Nath, 7 Pawan Negi, 8 Umesh Yadav, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Navdeep Saini, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal
Mumbai Indians
Ishan Kishan has registered scores of 17, 7 and 5, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea for MI to bring back Yuvraj Singh into the fold. Alzarri Joseph has had two forgettable games following his dream debut against Sunrisers Hyderabad, going for 0 for 22 in two overs against Kings XI Punjab and 0 for 53 in three against the Royals. It should be a no-brainer to replace him with the experienced Lasith Malinga.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
RCB would be keen on sticking to the combination which fetched them their first win of the season. However, Mohammed Siraj went for 54 runs picking up a sole wicket. It may not be a bad move for the management to give Siraj rest and bring in their latest acquisition – Dale Steyn – to offer solidarity to their bowling.
