Squads –
MI –
Rohit Sharma(c), Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Dhawal Kulkarni, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Quinton de Kock, Rahul Chahar, Suryakumar Yadav, Chris Lynn, Mohsin Khan, Saurabh Tiwary, Trent Boult, Adam Milne, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, James Neeshan, Yudhvir Charak, Marco Jansen, Arjun Tendulkar
RCB –
Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers, Yuzvendra Chahal, Devdutt Padikkal, Harshal Patel, Daniel Sams, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Adam Zampa, Shahbaz Ahmed, Kane Richardson, Pavan Deshpande, Glenn Maxwell, Sachin Baby, Rajat Patidar, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Kyle Jamieson, Dan Christian, Suyesh Prabhudessai, K.S. Bharat, Finn Allen
Team News –
MI –
– Mumbai Indians the 5 time champions will start their IPL 2021 against the team which are are yet to win the trophy RCB.
– MI has signed Jimmy Neesham, Adam Milne and Marco Jansen as their new foreign players this season.
– Quinton de Kock who was teams 2nd highest scorer last season will miss the opening game due to quarantine rules.
– Rohit Sharma and Chris Lynn are likely to open the game. Rohit is going through a golden patch of form. Lynn would fancy his chances and look to make most of the opportunity he gets after warming the bench for the entire season last year.
– Surya Kumar Yadav will bat at 1 down. Surya has been excellent form last 2-3 years scoring consistently 400+ in every season.
– Ishan Kishan will bat at 2 down. Ishan was team highest scorer last season and also got a chance in the national team where he scored a 50 on debut. He will keep the Wickets.
– Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya followed by Big Kieran Pollard will be the Allrounders for MI.
– Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya will lead the spin attack. Team can go with an extra spinner looking the Chepauk Wicket.
– Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Hardik Pandya and NCN/Adam Milne will lead the pace bowling. Pollard will assist them.
RCB –
– RCB had a good season in 2020 compared to their previous one’s. They were placed at no 4 in the points table.
– RCB had some really good recruits this season both Indian as well as foreign.
– They bought in big Kyle Jamieson and Glenn Maxwell for almost 30Cr while another good pick were Dan Christian and Young Finn Allen who came as a replacement for Josh Philippe.
– Adam Zampa will miss the opening game due to marriage. Kane Richardson will also be unavailable as he was also the part of Zampa’s marriage.
– Daniel Sams has been tested positive so he will most likely miss opening few games.
– Virat Kohli will open along with Devdutt Padikkal. Virat last opened in the 2016 season where he took the IPL by storm scoring 4 tons. Paddikal has been in red hot form and will look to utilize this form for the team’s success.
– Rajat Patidar/M Azharuddeen can bat at 1 down. Both are young guns and can strike the ball big. Patidar can be preferred due to his form in practice games.
– AB will bat at 2 down followed by Glenn Maxwell at 5. Maxwell can play a role of floater and can be promoted any day. Ab will keep the Wickets.
– Kyle Jamieson and Dan Christian along with Washington Sunder will play the role of Allrounders. Sunder as the only left hander in team can anytime come up the order.
– Yuzi Chahal, Shahbaz Ahmed and Washington Sundar will handle the spin section. Glenn Maxwell can assist them.
– Kyle Jamieson, Dan Christian and Mohammad Siraj/Navdeep Saini will be the pace attack of RCB.
Probable XI –
MI –
Rohit Sharma, Chris Lynn, Surya Kumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (wk), Kieran Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter Nile/Piyush Chawla, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul Chahar
RCB –
Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Mohammad Azharuddeen/Rajat Patidar, AB de Villiers(wk), Glenn Maxwell, Kyle Jamieson, Daniel Christian, Washington Sunder, Shahbaz Ahmed/Mohammad Siraj, Yuzi Chahal, Navdeep Saini.
Pitch Report –
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
The MA Chidambaram stadium has always been a spin friendly Wickets and generally scores below 150 are encountered here.
RCB has lost all their last 5 games here while MI has won all their last 5 games here.
Average Score : 160
Team Blueprint –
WK –
AB De Villiers ( 1/2 down + wk, no intro needed, one of the best t20 batters ever played, can be used as a floater, SR of 120+ in MA Chidambaram, Must have)
QdK( Open + wk, LHB, will not play the 1st game)
Ishan Kishan ( Open/2 down + wk, LHB, 56(32b) against Eng last series, highest scorer for MI with 516 runs last season, Must have)
M Azharuddeen ( 1 down/middle order, excellent Striker of the ball, 137(54b) against Mumbai in Syed Mushtaq trophy recently, Must try if plays)
BAT –
Virat Kohli( Open, highest run getter in IPL, 466 runs last season, scored higher ever 973 runs in 2016 season when he opened the innings)
Rohit Sharma ( Open, RHB, no intro needed, 478 runs in 19 games against RCB at a brilliant SR of 143, Must have)
Surya Kumar Yadav ( 1 down, RHB, Red hot form, 480 runs in IPL2020 at a SR of 140, Must have)
Devdutt Padikkal ( Open, LHB, highest scorer for RCB last season, 473 runs last season, 4 100s in Domestic season recently, red hot form, Must have)
Chris Lynn ( Open, RHB, didn’t played a game last season, 458 runs this BBL at a SR of 145+, can struggle on Chepauk Wickets)
Finn Allen ( Opener/1 down, RHB, one of the players with great bat swing, 512 runs in NZ domestic t20 season recently at a SR of 193, Must have if plays)
Rajat Patidar( 1 down, young talent, scored excellent 54, 104 in 2 practice games recently, can strike the ball big)
ALL –
Kieran Pollard ( Middle order, RHB + part time medium pace, 10000+ t20 runs, SR of 190 last season , can’t miss him)
Hardik Pandya ( Middle order, RHB + Medium pacer, SR of 159 with 1349 runs for MI in last 5 years, Must have)
Glenn Maxwell ( 2/3 down, RHB + part time off spin, very poor season last year, 44(31b) in 2nd practice game, Must have)
Jimmy Neesham( Right Arm medium + LHB, very attacking hitter, 2001 runs + 132 Wickets in t20s, 45(33b) + 2w, 26(22b) in last T20 series, just 19 runs in 3 IPL games last year for KXIP)
Dan Christian ( Medium pacer + RHB, very good hitter of the ball, loads of experience, 5172 runs + 259 t20 Wickets, 272 runs + 15 Wickets in BBL2020, must have)
Washington Sunder ( Off spin + very reliable batsman, can play as a floater, 8 Wickets last season but at an excellent eco of 5.8, just 1 Wicket in 4 games against MI )
Krunal Pandya ( Slow left arm + LHB, 58* against Eng in 1st ODI recently, 9 Wickets in 10 innings against RCB at an economy under 7)
M Jansen( Left arm medium fast + good Striker of ball, can be a good pick against Virat who has a weak left arm pacers record )
Shahbaz Ahmed ( middle order Batsman, Slow left arm + LHB, 95(48b) in practice game 2nd , can be an excellent pick for 7.5cr )
BOWL –
J Bumrah( Right Arm fast, 92 IPL games picking 109 Wickets, 27 Wickets at a SR of 13 last IPL, can’t miss him, best death bowler around)
Trent Boult ( Left arm fast, known for his deadly swing early on the innings, 3rd highest wicket taker last season with 25 Wickets, Must have)
Yuzi Chahal ( Leggie, highest wicket taker for RCB overall and also in last season, 121 IPL Wickets, 19 Wickets in 12 games against MI, Must have)
Mohammad Siraj( Right Arm fast, has been on his peak form recently, 11 Wickets in 9 games last season)
Kyle Jamieson ( Right Arm fast medium + excellent Striker of the ball, 7ft tall, 55 T20 Wickets in 22 innings + 230 runs at a very good SR of 140, must pick )
Adam Zampa ( Leggie, among top 5 T20i bowlers around, will miss 1st game )
Rahul Chahar( Leggie, brilliant last 2 seasons for MI with 15+ Wickets)
Nathan Coulter Nile ( Right Arm medium fast, can bowl upto 140ks, quite experienced with 156 t20 Wickets, 11 Wickets in 6 BBL2020 games, very good option to have)
Adam Milne ( Right Arm fast, experienced, bowls an average pace of 145, 124 t20 Wickets, poor BBL recently with just 4 Wickets in 12 games )
Navdeep Saini ( Right Arm fast, can touch upto 150ks, had a poor last season but was excellent at death last season, 3/40 , 2/33 in 2 practice games recently)
Piyush Chawla ( Leggie, 3rd highest wicket taker in IPL history with 156 scalps, poor season with CSK last year, can get a game on this Chennai wicket )
C/VC –
MI –
Rohit Sharma
Surya Kumar Yadav
Hardik Pandya
Jasprit Bumrah
RCB –
Virat Kohli
AB De Villiers
Glenn Maxwell
Devdutt Padikkal
