Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals will clash today in their first match of the doubleheader day. The match will start at 3:30 PM at DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.
MI has started the season in their fashion of losing 1st match. Mumbai has never won the first match since the season of 2013. On the other hand, Rajasthan, who has put up a good combination during the auction, will take on Mumbai after beating SRH by 61 runs in the first match.
MI vs RR 9th Match Preview
MI missing the Pandya brothers
Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan gave MI a great start against DC. At one point the score, which seemed to be going around 220, stopped at 177 without the support of the middle order.
Tim David has been a rage in leagues around the world, but to be a part of the most successful team in the world’s biggest cricket league for a long time, he has to get used to playing big innings.
Young batsman Tilak Verma was certainly impressed with his game, but he too could not prolong the innings.
Mumbai’s bowling is also an issue
The effect of breaking the pair of Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah was also clearly visible in the match against Delhi. While Bumrah gave 43 runs in his bowling, his partner Daniel Sams wasted 57 runs in 4 overs. Both did not get any success.
Basil Thampi and M. Ashwin did bowl a little better, but that was not enough for the team to win. The batsmen being able to play shots easily against Bumrah’s bowling is the biggest problem for the MI team management.
Rajasthan is looking like one of the most balanced teams in the tournament
RR, which has been facing continuous losses since season one due to over-reliance on young and inexperienced players, fortunes of RR have shone since the auction. The arrival of Devdutt Padikkal and Hetmyer in the top order has strengthened the batting order.
The bowling unit of RR is also very solid after the addition of Ashwin, Jimmy Neesham, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Trent Boult. At no point in the match against Hyderabad did it feel like RR could lose. In such a situation, the competition against 5-time IPL champion Mumbai is expected to be level.
Playing Squads
MI probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Tim David, Daniel Sams, Murugan Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Tymal Mills, Basil Thampi
Probable RR XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jimmy Neesam, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna
