Royal Challengers Bangalore
Mumbai Indians
On Sunday, in the second fixture, Royal Challengers Bangalore will be hosting Mumbai Indians at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Whenever RCB and MI are playing opposite to each other, the game always produces some nail-biting moments. The teams are evenly matched in terms of the quality of players they both have.
It is surprising to see Royal Challengers Bangalore without an IPL trophy in 15 years. Even though they have some of the best players playing for the team, it is still something which has kept them away from the trophy.
Mumbai Indians had witnessed a nightmare in their last season. The team finished last in IPL 2022 and struggled to win matches in the tournament. Some online bookmakers have made MI favourites to win the title this season.
Royal Challengers BangaloreMumbai IndiansThe good news for Royal Challengers Bangalore in recent times will be the regaining of form for Virat Kohli in the last season. Virat Kohli has been playing ferociously again after a long time and that will be a sigh of relief for the franchise. The team also purchased Reece Topley and Will Jacks from the auction but the latter got injured and was ruled out of the tournament.
Skipper Faf du Plessis will have the availability of all the players in his camp for the first game.
Predicted Lineup: Faf du Plessis (captain), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood, and Mohammed Siraj
Like Bangalore, MI also have something to celebrate. Jofra Archer will be coming back to action in IPL again after two years of absence. However, the biggest blow is the absence of Jasprit Bumrah for the whole tournament due to his fragile back. Mumbai also bought Australia’s Cameron Green who will be a major push in the allrounder section. Unfortunately, Australia’s pace bowler Jhye Richardson has gotten injured and has been ruled out from the tournament.
The biggest attraction will be Jofra Archer and skipper Rohit Sharma will be using him from the first match.
Predicted Lineup: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Dewald Brevis, Tilak Verma, Ramandeep Singh, Kumar Kartikeya, Shams Mulani, Jofra Archer, Jason Behrendorff
Mumbai Indians have a good depth in their batting with some of the best batters in international cricket. Their bowling has also got a major push with the presence of Jofra Archer in the team. We predict a win for the Mumbai Indians in the first game of the IPL.
