Squads –
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
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
Team News –
RR –
– Rajastan Royals had another disappointed defeat against SRH last game. They badly need to win their remaining games and hope other decisions to be in their favour.
– Steven Smith, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer will be RR 4 foreign players.
– Robin Uthappa and Ben Stokes will open the innings. Robby was looking good last game on 19 but was unfortunately run out. Stokes is holding one side but is playing to slow and haven’t hit a six yet this IPL.
– Sanju Samson will bat in 1 down. Sanju was dealing only in 6s in 1st 2 games but failed completely in next games. He scored 26 ball 36 last game.
– Steven Smith will bat 2 down. Smith is one of the best white ball cricketer in world Cricket and after a poor run finally got some runs under his bat against RCB.
– Jos Buttler will bat 3 down. Buttler smashed an unbeaten 70 runs in just 48 balls against CSK .
– Rahul Tewatia will bat next followed by Riyan Parag. Tewatia after taking the IPL by storm has lost his way a bit with the bat.
– Shreyas Gopal and Rahul Tewatia will bowl spin for Royals. Both are leg spinners and bowling very economically.
– Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat/Ankit Rajpoot, Ben Stokes and Kartik Tyagi will lead the pace attack. Jofra and Kartik will bowl in death.
MI –
– MI have won 7 out of their 10 games this IPL and are placed right at the top after defeating CSK in a one sided affair by 10 Wickets.
– Rohit Sharma will not play this game too due to a hamstring injury. Kieran Pollard will continue to lead the side.
– Quinton de Kock, Kieron Pollard, Trent Boult and James Pattinson/Nathan Coulter Nile will be their likely 4 foreign players.
– Ishan Kishan and Quinton de Kock will open the innings. Both were attacking from ball 1 last game and scored unbeaten 116 for the 1st Wicket.
– 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 scored 53 last 2nd game and didn’t got chance to bat last game.
– Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard will bat next followed by Krunal Pandya. Both Pandya and Pollard are playing the finishers role. Hardik is playing solely as a batsman.
– Rahul Chahar the young leggie will lead the spin attack along with left arm spinner Krunal Pandya. Rahul has taken 11 Wickets in 10 games this IPL.
– Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult and Nathan Coulter Nile will lead the pace attack. Kieron Pollard (1-2 overs) will assist them.
Probable XI –
RR –
Robin Uthappa, Ben Stokes, Sanju Samson, Steve Smith, Jos Buttler(wk), Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat/Ankit Rajpoot, Kartik Tyagi.
MI –
Quinton de Kock(wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard(c), Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter Nile, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah.
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 : 168
Team Blueprint –
WK –
Jos Buttler ( 3 down, international opener, 311 runs in 8 games IPL 2019 including 3 50+ scores, 70(48b) against CSK last 2nd game )
Quinton de Kock( Opener + wk, a must have combo, very attacking batsman, 78, 53, 46 last 3 games, Must have)
I Kishan( 2 down, very attacking batsman, 99 runs against RCB, 68* last game)
Sanju Samson ( 1 down, SR of 214 this IPL, 74(32b), 85(42b) in 1st 2 games, 36 last game )
BAT –
Steve Smith ( 1 down, very consistent, 4000+ t20 runs, 2 50s in 1st 2 games, 57, 26, 19 runs last 3 game)
R Sharma( Opener, no introduction needed, 4800+ IPL runs, 250+ runs this season already, not play this game)
Robin Uthappa ( Open, excellent last game when opened, scored 41(22b) against RCB last 3rd game, Must have )
David Miller( 2 down, 6000+ T20 runs including 3 100s , ignored by lot today, will not play unless there is any injury concerns)
Chris Lynn( Opener, very poor CPL 2019, Just 138 runs in 9 games, good chances of Playing)
H Pandya( 3 down, 402 runs + 14 wickets at a SR of 191 in IPL 2019,playing only as a batsman, poor form )
Suryakumar( 1 down, 404 runs at a SR of 135 in IPL, 79(47b),53(32b) last 2 of 4 games, Must have)
Saurabh Tiwary( 2 down, made a comeback after almost 3 years, will likely play this game too)
Riyan Parag ( 3 down, young talent , can also bowl, good choice in case of top order failure)
Y Jaiswal ( Opener, young takent, highest scorer in u19 WC, 400 runs at average of 133, will likely not play)
ALL –
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), 34(12) last few games , bowling good no of overs)
Ben Stokes( Open + Medium pacer, best Allrounder in orld cricket, 30 runs in last game, scoring but at slow pace)
R Tewatia ( Leggie, bowls with really good variations, most important player of team, Must have)
Krunal Pandya( 4-5 down + 4 overs of spin, left arm spin, bowls tight line and length, 34 runs last 2nd game )
BOWL –
Jofra Archer ( Right Arm fast, one of best bowlers in world cricket, 2w last game, 16w this IPL, Must have will bowl in death )
Jasprit Bumrah( Right Arm Fast, no introduction needed, 2w last game, Must have )
Tom Curran ( Right Arm fast + hard hitter of ball, 153w + 900 runs in 123 t20 games, will not play)
Shreyas Gopal ( Leggie, best bowler of RR, 20 Wickets in 14 games last IPL, not in good form, 1w last 2nd game)
Jaydev Unadkat ( Left arm fast, known for his variations in death, experienced, 81 IPL Wickets, was dropped last game)
Rahul Chahar( Leggie, Must have in this conditions, 11 Wickets in 9 games this IPL, 2w last game)
Trent Boult( Left arm fast, world class bowler, will bowl in death, 4 Wicket last game, Must have)
James Pattinson( Pacer, excellent form, 2w last 2nd game, bowling with good pace, didn’t played last game)
Kartik Tyagi ( Pacer, known for his pace and bounce, bowling really good this IPL, very expensive last game)
C/VC Options –
RR –
Jos Buttler
Ben Stokes
Steven Smith
Sanju Samson
MI –
Quinton de Kock
Jasprit Bumrah
Kieran Pollard