CRICKET
IPL 2023 Predictions: Will RCB thrash MI?
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will welcome the Mumbai Indians (MI) to the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday, April 2 for a mouth-watering IPL clash.
RCB have won four of the last five meetings between the two sides.
They faced each other only once last season, with Bangalore triumphing by seven wickets with nine balls to spare.
MI will look towards their batting might to pull off a victory.
If they win the toss and decide to chase, they will have an edge as their batting line-up looks scary.
Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan are both potential match-winners, while Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma are extremely dangerous on their day.
They also have a ₹25.75 crore backup in the form of Cameron Green and Tim David, as supporting cast!
After the bowling failure last year, MI have made plenty of changes.
Basil Thampi, Tymal Mills, Riley Meredith, Jayadev Unadkat, and Murugan Ashwin are all out of the side.
Jasprit Bumrah is set to miss the entire season due to an injury and so will Jhye Richardson.
In their absence, Jofra Archer will shoulder much of the pace duties but he doesn’t have much support in the form of quality local seam bowlers.
Jason Behrendorff is likely to be his new-ball partner. However, this means the team will have to bench an overseas batsman to accommodate him.
RCB, despite including some of the biggest superstars of international cricket and having one of the most loyal fan bases, hasn’t been able to lift the trophy.
They have managed to reach the playoffs in each of the last 3 seasons and will hope to build up on that momentum this time around.
Faf du Plessis will once again lead the team.
Virat Kohli will undoubtedly be the team’s most important batsman in the team and RCB will be relieved that he has finally gained good form.
Glenn Maxwell has recovered from his injury and is likely to be available for the entire season.
However, the injuries of Rajat Patidar and Josh Hazlewood come as a big setback for the team.
Patidar was the 3rd highest scorer for the team in the previous season and is likely to remain unavailable at least for a couple of weeks.
He will be replaced by either Finn Allen or Anuj Rawat while Dinesh Kartik will once again take up the role of a finisher.
In absence of Hazlewood, the new-ball duties will fall on Mohammad Siraj and Harshal Patel, while the inclusion of Reece Topley gives du Plessis an extra seam option.
Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga is on overseas duty and will be sorely missed.
The pitch at the Chinnaswamy Stadium is a batting paradise and has seen quite a few high-scoring encounters.
The surface is flat and has good bounce and the boundaries aren’t the biggest here.
The average first-inning score here is around 170, but teams batting first will be looking to score closer to 200 to give their bowlers some cushion.
RCB vs MI Head-to-Head Record:
| Teams | Matches Won |
| Royal Challengers Bangalore | 13 wins |
| Mumbai Indians | 19 wins |
MI Predicted Playing XI:
Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Dewald Brewis, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Cameron Green, Sandeep Warrier, Jofra Archer, Akash Madhwal, Arshad Khan
RCB Predicted Playing XI:
Who will win
RCB look like a more balanced side.
Mumbai’s bowling looks paper-thin and with Virat Kohli rediscovering his touch, RCB looks like they have the edge.
However, it’s a difficult match to predict as MI’s batting is packed with phenomenal talents.
At the same time, the home conditions and crowd will be a factor and hence, RCB will win.