Squads –
MI –
Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah, Quinton de Kock (wk), Kieron Pollard, Sherfane Rutherford, Suryakumar Yadav, Anmolpreet Singh, Chris Lynn, Saurabh Tiwary, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mitchell McClenaghan, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Mohsin Khan, Prince Balwant Rai Singh, Digvijay Deshmukh, Hardik Pandya, Jayant Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Anukul Roy, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Ishan Kishan, Aditya Tare, James Pattinson
RR –
Steve Smith (c), Ankit Rajpoot, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Mahipal Lomror, Manan Vohra, Mayank Markande, Rahul Tewatia, Riyan Parag, Sanju Samson, Shashank Singh, Shreyas Gopal, Varun Aaron, Akash Singh, Anirudha Joshi, Anuj Rawat, Andrew Tye, David Miller, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi, Oshane Thomas, Robin Uthappa, Tom Curran, Yashasvi Jaiswal
Team News –
MI –
– MI have won 3 out of their 5 games this IPL and are in good form winning their last game against SRH. They will not make any changes to their XI.
– Quinton de Kock, Kieron Pollard, Trent Boult and James Pattinson will be their likely 4 foreign players.
– Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock will open the innings. Both will attack from the ball 1 especially De Kock. De kock After a series of bad performance finally scored 69 last game.
– Suryakumar Yadav will bat 1 down. He had an excellent domestic season scoring lots of runs while also scored 400+ runs in last IPL. He is getting starts but not making it a big one.
– Ishan Kishan will bat 2 down. Kishan scored brilliant 99 against RCB and 31 against SRH last game.
– Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard will bat next followed by Krunal Pandya. Both Pandya and Pollard playing the finishers role. Both will be promoted .
– Rahul Chahar the young leggie will lead the spin attack along with left arm spinner Krunal Pandya. Rahul has taken 6 Wickets in 5 games this IPL.
– Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult and James Pattinson will lead the pace attack. Kieron Pollard (1-2 overs) will assist them.
RR –
– After winning the 1st 2 games RR have lost their plot by loosing the next 2 games . Team could make some decisions of bringing back Jaiswal for out of form Uthappa.
– Ben Stokes is in UAE but have to undergo 6 days of quarantine and will not play this game.
– Steven Smith, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran and Jofra Archer will be RR 4 foreign players.
– Jos Buttler and Steve Smith will open the Innings. Buttler got to a good start last game too but gave his Wicket away. Smith is getting out playing risky shots.
– Jaiswal can play this game. If he plays he will open amd Smith will bat 2 down.
– Sanju Samson will bat in 1 down. Sanju has been dealing only in sixes in both the games and has scored 171 runs with a strike rate of 214.
– Rahul Tewatia will bat at 2 down followed by Uthappa at 3 down. Tewatia hit massive 5 sixes in a over against Punjab and is in good touch.
– Tom Curran have to play the roles of finishers. Parag played some good knock last season and can also bowl.
– Shreyas Gopal and Rahul Tewatia will bowl spin for Royals. Riyan Parag and Steven Smith can assist them if needed.
– Tom Curran, Jofra Archer, Ankit Rajpoot(if plays) and Jaydev Unadkat will lead the pace attack. Jofra and Curran will bowl in death.
Probable XI –
MI –
Rohit Sharma (C), Quinton de Kock(wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, James Pattinson, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah.
RR –
Jos Buttler, Steve Smith (c), Sanju Samson(wk), Robin Uthappa/Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag/Mahipal Lomror, Tom Curran, Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat, Ankit Rajpoot
Pitch Report –
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Pitches at Abu Dhabi are generally at the slower side giving assistance to spin more than pace in 2nd innings.
Average Score : 158
Head to Head –
Total games : 22
MI Won : 11
RR Won : 11
Team Blueprint –
WK –
Jos Buttler ( Opener, international opener, 311 runs in 8 games IPL 2019 including 3 50+ scores, 22(12b) last game, Must have)
Sanju Samson ( 1 down, SR of 214 this IPL, 74(32b), 85(42b) in 1st 2 games, Must have)
Quinton de Kock( Opener + wk, a must have combo, very attacking batsman, failed completely this season, 69(38b) last game)
I Kishan( 2 down, very attacking batsman, 99 runs against RCB, must)
BAT –
R Sharma( Opener, no introduction needed, 4800+ IPL runs, 80, 70 in last 2 of 3 games, Must have )
Chris Lynn( Opener, very poor CPL 2019, Just 138 runs in 9 games, will not play as team already has filled overseas slots )
Steve Smith ( Open, very consistent, 4000+ t20 runs, 69, 52, 3, 5 this IPL, can bat at 2 down, Must have)
Robin Uthappa ( middle order, very experienced, 4400+ IPL runs in 177 games, not a good pick as Batting very low and not in form )
David Miller( 2 down, 6000+ T20 runs including 3 100s , ignored by lot today, will not play unless there is any injury concerns)
Suryakumar( 1 down, 404 runs at a SR of 135 in IPL, 27(18b) last game, Must have)
Saurabh Tiwary( 2 down, made a comeback after almost 3 years, 42(31b), 21(13b) last 2 games, will likely not play )
Y Jaiswal ( Opener, young takent, highest scorer in u19 WC, 400 runs at average of 133, was dropped last game, must if plays today)
ALL –
H Pandya( 3 down, 402 runs + 14 wickets at a SR of 191 in IPL 2019, didn’t bowled a over this IPL, 28(19b) last game)
K Pollard( 3-4 down + 2-3 overs of pace, Man of tournament in CPL recently, 207 runs + 8 Wickets in CPL 2020, 60(24b),47(20b), 25(13b) last games )
Krunal Pandya( 4-5 down + 4 overs of spin, left arm spin, bowls tight line and length, 1w + 20(4b) last game)
R Tewatia ( Leggie, bowls with relly good variations, 53(31b) with 7 sixes against KXIP game, 24(12b) last game, must at 8.5cr)
Riyan Parag ( Middle order + Reg Break, 160 runs + 2 Wickets in just 7 games last season, bowled 1 over last game)
Mahipal Lomror ( Middle order + left arm orthodox, excellent debut for him last game, 47(39b))
BOWL –
Jofra Archer ( Right Arm fast, one of best bowlers in world cricket, 9 Wickets against aus recently in 6 games, 1w + 16 runs last game, Must have will bowl in death )
Jasprit Bumrah( Right Arm Fast, no introduction needed, 2w last game, Must have )
Rahul Chahar( Leggie, Must have in this conditions, 6 Wickets in 5 games this IPL)
Trent Boult( Left arm fast, world class bowler, will bowl in death, 2 Wicket, Must have)
Tom Curran ( Right Arm fast + hard hitter of ball, 153w + 900 runs in 123 t20 games, 1w + 54R last 2nd game, will bowl in death )
Shreyas Gopal ( Leggie, best bowler of RR, 20 Wickets in 14 games last IPL, just 1w this IPL very poor form )
Jaydev Unadkat ( Left arm fast, known for his variations in death, experienced, 78 IPL Wickets )
James Pattinson( Pacer, bowls most if overs in powerplay, 2w last game, good option to save credits)
C/VC Options –
MI –
Rohit Sharma
Quinton de Kock
Kieran Pollard
RR –
Jos Buttler
Steven Smith
Sanju Samson