IPL 2021 | RCB vs MI - Struggling Mumbai look for late revival against sputtering RCB
Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians are two teams that are not discussed in a single breath. Mumbai have had a distinguished IPL career winning five titles in the possible 13 seasons, while on the other hand, the RCB are one of the only three teams in the current eight, who have not laid their hands on the trophy. Even in terms of going deep in the tournament, Mumbai dominate the charts with playing 6 finals, while RCB have competed in 3. Themes from the first half However, this season started a little differently. Unlike most years. The RCB dominated the early phase of the tournament, defeating the likes of Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals, three of their main competitions for the playoff spots. In contrast to the Bangalore-based franchise, like all years, Mumbai started at their own pace, losing the first game of the tournament (incidentally against RCB). However, they picked up momentum late in the first phase of the tournament, clinching incredible victories against Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals. Based on their momentum, one would have assumed, and rightly so after the Indian leg, that both the RCB and the MI were runaway leaders to qualify for the top four spots, if not the first two. However, neither the RCB nor the MI can let go of their bad habits of not doing things the easy way and hence, they find themselves in precarious situations in the middle of the points table. Back to square one Coming into the second phase of the tournament with a strong foreign contingent, RCB faltered twice, awfully against the KKR and the CSK. Against the KKR, they were bundled out for just 92 runs in 19 overs and against CSK, despite having a 55-run powerplay, the RCB failed to put enough runs on board and lost the game by 6 wickets and 17 balls remaining. In both defeats, the bowling department weren’t given a chance with awfully low totals to defend, however, one would argue that RCB bowlers could crank up the heat and not give away easy runs in the middle. The misfiring batting department remains the top concern for RCB with players either failing to score runs or failing to score runs quickly enough. In the first match against Kolkata, RCB line-up tanked with seven out of 11 batsmen scoring in single digits. Devdutt Padikkal was the only player to score over 20, but did so at a strike rate of just 110. Against Chennai, RCB seemed to have shaken off the once in a blue moon defeat to KKR, scoring 55 rapid runs in the first six overs. But for some very odd reason, both Padikkal and Kohli slowed down and the side scored just two boundaries and a solitary six between the 11th and 16th over. A big NONO in T20 cricket. This mounted incredible pressure in the middle order and in desperation to get going, RCB threw away wickets on regular intervals. RCB are not alone in batting problems though as Mumbai middle order comprising Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Krunal Pandya, Saurabh Tiwary and Kieron Pollard have not fired in the UAE leg of the tournament as of yet. Barring one innings from Tiwary where he scored 50 off 40 balls, nobody has contributed anything of substance in the last two matches and MI will really hope that they can get their mojo back at this phase of the tournament. Points Table The game matters more for Mumbai, given the Rohit Sharma-led side is placed at 5th in the table with a negative run-rate. If Mumbai can win on Sunday, they have the potential to go up to the third place in the table, with 10 points in nine games. For RCB, this is a game to turn things around. Their campaign has turned horribly wrong since they arrived in the UAE and they need this win going into the final phase of the group stages. Match Details Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians, Match 39 Venue: Dubai International Stadium Date & Time: September 26th at 7:30 PM IST (5:00 PM local time) Broadcast: Star Sports Network and Disney+Hotstar Pitch Report Since day 1, the Dubai pitch has assisted pacers in the early phase of the innings. If one can take their mind back to the first encounter between MI and CSK in the second leg of the tournament, Mumbai were in absolute control in the first six overs. Trent Boult and Adam Milne ran riot in the powerplay play dismissing three players and retiring hurting one. At a point in time Chennai were reduced to 25-4 (5 if you consider the retire hurt) with their entire top order and MS Dhoni back in the hut. They made an error of judgement in the later half in that game, bowling spinners from both ends of the pitch, a move that Chennai capitalised on and scored 156. In the second innings of that same game, 7 wickets were picked by Chennai pacers out of the 8 that fell, the one remaining was a run out. The last match played between Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad showed the same trend, with Delhi Pacer Anrich Nortje breathing fire in the 22 yards. So, the suggestion is, if you win the toss, 100 per cent, bowl first. Key Players and Match-ups You cannot talk about Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore without talking about the Glenn Maxwell -AB de Villiers duo. While Maxwell has forever struggled against Mumbai for his inability to counter Jasprit Bumrah, Pollard or leg spinner Rahul Chahar, ABD has been one of the few players in the world who takes a liking to Bumrah’s bowling. De Villiers bats at a strike rate close to 150 against the Indian pacer and RCB can hope that he can come to his own in this game. On the flip side of things, Bangalore would hope that they can maximise the potential of Yuzvendra Chahal and Wainidu Hasaranga in this game and attack the MI batting line up that houses right handed big hitters like Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Kieron Pollard. We have already discussed how Trent Boult and Adam Milne are crucial to the MI in the powerplay and being up against Padikkal and Kohli should be a good contest. Team News Mumbai Indians If Mumbai are anything - they are an extremely focused unit. They will look to bounce back against RCB, be it with or without the services of Hardik Pandya, whose fitness condition is not definitively known. Barring that, Mumbai will probably be fielding an unchanged XI. Probable XI Quinton de Kock (wk), Rohit Sharma (capt), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya/Saurabh Tiwary, Adam Milne, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah Royal Challengers Bangalore RCB have lost two in a row and they might think of tinkering their playing XI a little bit. Navdeep Saini was woefully off colour in the last game and he might make way for Kyle Jamieson in the playing XI. This would mean that with ABD, Maxwell, Hasaranga and Jamieson in, Tim David might be forced to sit out and Shabaz Ahmed might be called back into the XI. RCB could choose to bench KS Bharat and play Rajat Patidar as well, but that might be one change too many. Probable XI Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (capt), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, KS Bharat (wk), Kyle Jamieson, Shabaz Ahmed, Harshal Patel, Wainidu Hasaranga Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal Fantasy XI AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Saurabh Tiwary, Suryakumar Yadav, Devdutt Padikkal, Wainindu Hasaranga, Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul Chahar
 "Somya Kapoor")
