IPL 2016: MI vs RCB Match Preview - The Rohit Sharma vs Virat Kohli Battle

Spectators will see an out of form and misfiring Mumbai Indians (MI) take on a batting heavy Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Match 14 of VIVO IPL 2016. With both teams looking to get back to winning ways, this one should definitely prove to be a cracker of a contest between two of the quintessential big guns of the IPL.

The defending champions, Mumbai Indians have had a poor start to this year’s competition losing both their home matches so far (as well as one on the road) with only a solitary win against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on the road.

The Mumbai Indians would be gunning for a victory tomorrow at their “real” home ground - which will be the first of two remaining matches at the Wankhede Stadium before they relocate to Jaipur for the rest of the season.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore have a win and a loss from two games played. While their batting has fired as expected, their bowling seems to be a major chink in their armour which was evident in the loss against the Delhi Daredevils. With their next 4 matches on the road including this one, Kohli and co. will want to keep pace with the early leaders with a victory at the Wankhede.

Match Date and Time: 20 April 2016, 2000 hrs ISTMatch Venue: Wankhede Stadium, MumbaiWeather:

Temperature: Max 32°c, Min 27°cHumidity: Max 63%Wind: 19 kmph

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The Key battle

Considering their status in their respective sides as well as in the Indian team, all eyes will undoubtedly be on the two skippers; Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. While Rohit has enthralled audiences around the world in the last few years, his counterpart Virat has been the more dominant force, especially in the shortest format of the game.

With Virat at the absolute peak of his game and Rohit looking to drag his side out of their slump, the match could well boil down to the individual performances of these two stalwarts.

With Lendl Simmons before and now Martin Guptill in the side, Rohit hasn’t been batting in his preferred position at the top of the order. That might probably be the reason as to why he hasn’t been able to unleash the smooth and languid strokeplay that has made him a feared prospect for any opposition bowler.

Apart from the win against KKR, where Rohit expertly guided the chase and led MI to their only victory so far, he has flattered to deceive and this can easily be said of the rest of the Mumbai Indians side too.

They have neither got their team combinations right nor have they been able to slot the right players into the right positions. This has been a primary reason for their poor start.

Players like Jos Buttler, Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya seem a liability at times, not able to reach the heights of their performances for their national sides or from earlier editions of the IPL.

Rohit’s captaincy too will be under scrutiny in this match as to how he strategizes to stop the marauding RCB batsmen and in particular their skipper Virat Kohli.

Virat, the man, the mean run machine! That’s what he has become over the past two years, a machine. His performances for India as well as RCB have been nothing short of dazzling. His orthodox strokeplay, combined with fearsome hitting and maniac running between the wickets has made him one of the most complete batsman in the game currently.

Add a penchant for chasing down almost any target, an on song Virat and the MI bowlers will have their work cut out. Certainly Rohit will be wondering just like Zaheer Khan a couple of nights ago whether to bowl first and unleash the batting might of the RCB on his bowlers or give Virat a chance to script another masterclass in chasing.

It’s not just Virat that MI have to worry about though. A certain AB De Villiers awaits all those who manage to break the opening partnership. Although Shane Watson has played at four this season, Gayle’s unavailablity means he might be asked to open. While the batting is still in good shape even without Gayle, it’s the bowling that’s been the RCB’s Achilles heel.

A top heavy lineup and the absence of Mitchell Starc has hit the RCB this season as Quinton de Kock proved. With a deep batting lineup (even Harbhajan Singh and Mitch McCleneghan have managed to biff a few this season) MI should prove to be stiff competition if they get their combination and heads right.

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Mi vs RCB Head to Head:

The Mumbai Indians have a 10-7 win-loss record in 17 IPL matches against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

At the Wankhede though, RCB lead with a 3-2 win-loss record. Also, RCB won the last match played between these two at the Wankhede by 39 runs with ABD cracking a 59 ball 133.

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Trivia

- Chris Gayle has had an appalling start to the IPL so far, registering a single and a duck in two matches.

- On the other hand, MI have conceded opening stands of 78, 21, 12, 4 in their four games so far. They will hope for the trend to continue.

- Getting Gayle cheaply means nothing. Virat and ABD have been involved in partnerships of 157 and 107 for RCB in two matches. Stopping them from going hammer and tongs again will be half the contest won.