After facing two consecutive defeats in their last two outings, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are now set to face Mumbai Indians (MI) tomorrow at home in M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. The latest news confirmed that ace batsman Virat Kohli will join the RCB squad at tomorrow’s match. BCCI medical team certified Virat Kohli’s fitness and RCB captain will make his appearance for the first time in IPL 10 this season tomorrow.
IPL 2017: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) vs Mumbai Indians (MI) – Preview
Last year, Kohli was in scintillating form guiding RCB to final with an unbelievable run-riot of 973 runs in 16 matches with four tons. However, SRH eventually beat RCB at the IPL 9 final to clinch the trophy for the first time ever.
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Tomorrow’s IPL clash against Mumbai Indians will be extremely crucial for Royal Challengers. Ab de Villiers’s entry to team didn’t help RCB win their last match against Kings XI Punjab despite his fiery 89 off 46 balls. They scored a very nominal 148 for 4 and Kings XI easily chased down the target without any trouble.
Team News for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
RCB’s biggest worry is the out-of-form Chris Gayle. The big Caribbean failed miserably in his last 10 innings without any fifty. He also fails to give a good start to the team. In-form Lokesh Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan are out of the entire tournament due to their injuries.
Shane Watson and Kedar Jadhav are in good form and may prove their worth in the upcoming matches too. As always, there will be some massive expectations from Virat Kohli too as he is all set to play his debut IPL match this season. He will be a vital cog for the team’s middle order batting. RCB’s bowling looks decent with the spin duo of Chahal and Negi while Aravind, Tymal Mills and Binny will oversee the pace department.
Team News for Mumbai Indians (MI)
Mumbai Indians (MI) are returning back to form this season. They beat the defending champions SRH (Sunrisers Hyderabad) in a one-sided manner yesterday excelling with both bat and ball. Bowlers did the task by restricting the Warner and Co. at a modest 158 and then chased down the same quite easily with eight balls to spare.
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Young Nitish Rana, is playing fabulous cricket. He smashed 34, 50 and 45 in last three matches and is expected to retain this form in the later matches too. Mumbai’s top orders also clicking as both Parthiv and Buttler providing a good start to the team. MI’s middle order is also quite strong with the pinch hitters like Kierron Pollard, Pandya brothers, Rohit Sharma and Raidu. However, worrisome form of Pollard is hurting MI. His all-round performance is certainly under a scanner now. The grapevine is Sri Lanka’s star all-rounder Asela Gunaratne will replace Pollard tomorrow.
MI have a strong bowling attack too with Malinga, McClenaghan and Bumbrah leading the team’s fast bowling attack while Harbhajan Singh will lead the team’s spin department.
Predicted Playing XI (Both Teams)
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB): Virat Kohli (captain), Shane Watson, Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Ab De Villiers, Kedar Jadhav (Wicketkeeper), Stuart Binny, Tymal Mills, Yuzvendra Chahal, Pawan Negi and Sreenath Aravind.
Mumbai Indians (MI): Rohit Sharma (captain), Parthiv Patel (Wicketkeeper), Asela Gunaratene, Tim Southee, Jos Buttler, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nitish Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya and Harbhajan Singh.
Prediction: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will win.
Venue: The match will start LIVE from Bengaluru at 4PM onwards on Sony ESPN.
Tags: #IPL, Indian Premier League, IPL 10, IPL 2017, MI, Mumbai Indians, RCB, Royal Challengers Bangalore, VIVO IPL
