IPL 2018: 3 key battles that will decide who wins the MI vs RCB clash

Defending Champions Mumbai Indians will try to get their first points of the IPL season when they host Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede Stadium. The Rohit Sharma-led team has wobbled at key moments during this year's IPL, and have lost two home games against CSK and DD.

The Red Army has secured victory in one match in their three fixtures so far. The matches between these two sides are keenly contested, with the Mumbai Indians having a huge edge, as they have won 14, while the RCB have won 7. Notably, RCB has failed to win against Mumbai at Wankhede in the previous two seasons.

The battle will be between Mumbai's bowling and the Red Army's batting.

Here are the three key battles that will decide who comes on top:

---

#1 Krunal Pandya vs AB De Villers

Krunal Pandya

Krunal Pandya has performed well with both bat and ball for Mumbai Indians. He not only makes useful contributions lower down the order but also bowls accurately in the middle overs and has been a consistent performer in the last two seasons of the IPL.

In the first three matches of the IPL, he has already made a mark with his batting by hitting 41 and 28 against CSK and Sunrisers. His bowling has been impressive and has given away just 31 runs and taken two wickets in the five overs that he has bowled.

He will face-off against the mighty AB de Villers who played a fantastic knock of 55 against Kings XI. Krunal has been exceptional while bowling to the South African batsman, dismissing him a record four times in the IPL. With such a poor record against the spinner, AB de Villers will be cautious and this approach will give Krunal the licence and confidence to attack the batsman.

#2 Jasprit Bumrah vs Brendan McCullum

The specialist death bowler

Over the last few seasons, Jasprit Bumrah has been Mumbai's best bowler. He was one of the two players retained by the Mumbai Indians, and has been primarily used in the death overs where he stifles the batsmen with yorkers and chokes runs at the end.

In the opening match of IPL, Dwayne Bravo plundered three sixes off Bumrah's last over and Mumbai succumbed to a defeat. In his next match, he bowled well and brought Mumbai back into the game by taking wickets of the dangerous Yusuf Pathan and Rashid Khan.

He will be up against McCullum who is known to be one of the most destructive batsmen in the IPL. The Kiwi opener scored a quick 43 against KKR, but has failed to give a good start at the top, in the other matches. Expect Bumrah to unsettle him with his slower balls and quick bouncers.

#3 Mustafizur Rahman vs Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli is currently one of the best batsmen in the world. He played some exquisite shots and recorded his fastest ever 50 off 26 balls in the IPL against Rajasthan Royals.

In his debut season of IPL, playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rahman won the Emerging Player of IPL as he bagged 17 wickets in 16 matches at an average of 24.76.

Mustafizur Rahman bowled well against Sunrisers and almost took the game to a Super Over with three consecutive dot balls in the final over. He ended the match with an impressive three wickets and conceded just 24 runs.

The Fizz will use his off-cutters and pace variations to get the better of Kohli. Having played Mustafizur previously, the Indian captain will try to use his experience and play the ball as late as possible. This interesting sub-plot might well decide which team comes on top.