IPL 2023: RCB vs MI: Royal Challengers Bangalore aims to sustain contemporary superiority over Mumbai Indians
IPL 2023: Match 5 will occur between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians in Bengaluru on Sunday. The hosts will look to maintain their supremacy over the visitors lately.
FollowRoyal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will look to maintain its recent dominance over former five-time record champion Mumbai Indians (MI) when the two teams clash in their opening match of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) season at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday. Having recorded three consecutive wins against MI in their last five meetings since IPL 2020, the RCB, which is once again in search of its maiden title win in the league, would want to make a winning start in front of their loyal fans.
However, it remains to be seen how RCB will cope without players like Rajat Patidar and Josh Hazlewood, who have been sidelined for at least the first half of this IPL due to injuries. Australian Glenn Maxwell is also unlikely to feature in Sunday's game. While England's Will Jacks will miss the whole season, it is to be seen how Maxwell shapes up, given that he missed the last two One-Day Internationals (ODIs) for Australia against India in the recent series after playing the first match in Mumbai.
Patidar was RCB's third highest-scorer last year with 333 runs in eight matches at 55.50, including two fifties. He hit the fastest century by an Indian in the IPL in Qualifier 1. On the other hand, Australia's Hazlewood was the team's second most successful bowler, with 20 wickets in 20 matches.
RCB will also have to wait for its Sri Lankan spin ace Wanindu Hasaranga, who is in New Zealand on national duty. He will miss a few opening games. Nevertheless, the late inclusion of New Zealand's Michael Bracewell is expected to give RCB an aggressive batter lower in the order. The presence of Dinesh Karthik down the order also makes RCB fearful.
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While captain Faf du Plessis and former skipper Virat Kohli are expected to do the heavy lifting in the top-order batting, pacers Harshal Patel and Mohammed Siraj will be the strike bowlers. Du Plessis finished the inaugural South Africa 20 (SA20) as the second most prolific batter with 369 runs last month, whereas Kohli will look to light up the IPL stage once again, having tasted success in white-ball cricket in recent months.
The inclusion of Reece Topley has provided a shot in the arm to RCB's bowling with a quality left-arm pacer with many specialities for the shortest format in the ranks. MI ended the last IPL at the bottom in the points table with only four wins from 14 matches. The most successful team in IPL history with five trophies in their cabinet, Mumbai will aim to put its best foot forward against a formidable RCB side.
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Without its ace bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Jhye Richardson, who are ruled out for the season, MI's hopes will be pinned on Jofra Archer to fill the void and guide the other bowlers that the team management has marked out. Archer will have Australia's Jason Behrendorff for the company along with Akash Madhwal.
MI captain Rohit Sharma and the experienced Suryakumar Yadav will be the linchpins in the batting department, which now features young players such as Tilak Verma, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs and Tim David. Ishan Kishan will be expected to attain consistency with the bat as he is also the team's earmarked wicketkeeper.
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While Cameron Green is a valuable addition to the team, Mumbai Indians look a bit light on the spin front with former India spinner Piyush Chawla leading the pack, featuring Kumar Kartikeya, who auditioned for them last year with four matches.
Squads:
RCB: Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Mohammad Siraj, Harshal Patel, Dinesh Karthik (wk), 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.
MI: Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Dewald Brevis, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tristan Stubbs, Vishnu Vinod, Cameron Green, Arjun Tendulkar, Ramandeep Singh, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera, Hrithik Shokeen, Arshad Khan, Duan Jansen, Piyush Chawla, Kumar Kartikeya, Raghav Goyal, Jofra Archer, Jason Behrendorff and Akash Madhwal.
Match details
Date and day: April 2, 2023 (Sunday)
Venue: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
Time: 7.30 PM (IST)
Where to watch (TV): Star Sports 1 and other Star Sports regional language channels - Also available in HD
Where to watch (Online): JioCinema
(With inputs from PTI)
