IPL 2018, MI vs RCB: 5 player battles to look out for

Today’s game will see defending champions Mumbai Indians taking on the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Both teams haven’t had a good start to their respective campaigns. While RCB have won just one of their three matches, MI are yet to register a win in the tournament, making it the fourth time that they have lost their first three matches in the IPL.

Both teams might be filling the rear of the table for now but they have pretty powerful squads jam-packed with brilliant cricketers. The match will certainly involve a number of exciting player battles. Here are the top five player battles to look out for in the MI-RCB match.

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#5. Kieron Pollard vs Yuzvendra Chahal

Kieron Pollard has had a forgettable tournament so far. He has scored 28 runs from two innings at an average of 14. Yuzvendra Chahal did not have a good outing in his first two matches with his economy going over 9 on both occasions. However, against Rajasthan Royals, Chahal was the only RCB bowler who clicked, picking up two wickets and conceding only 22 runs from his four overs.

Pollard may not have clicked so far but you never know when he will unleash his rage on the RCB bowlers during the middle overs. This is that point of the innings when Chahal is frequently used. Virat Kohli will be counting on Chahal to get rid of Pollard when the going gets rough.

#4. AB de Villiers vs Krunal Pandya

Krunal Pandya has dismissed ABD in all the MI-RCB encounters he has played in

AB de Villiers has played a couple of fine knocks for RCB this season so far. The last match, however, he could not get going and got dismissed for 20. Nevertheless, RCB can expect the South African to deliver against Mumbai Indians at Mumbai. Of course, once ABD gets settled, he becomes the opposition’s nightmare.

However, in the past two seasons, there has been one bowler who has always got the better of AB de Villiers and he is Krunal Pandya. In the previous four encounters between MI and RCB, Krunal has always ended up dismissing De Villiers. The last match, Krunal bowled pretty well, taking two wickets against Delhi Daredevils and conceding 21 runs from three overs.

Krunal has been more than handy for Mumbai Indians as a bowler on several occasions and Rohit Sharma will definitely give him the ball today and probably with the primitive objective of dismissing De Villiers.

#3. Brendon McCullum vs Jasprit Bumrah

Bumrah will be required to get rid of McCullum early

Brendon McCullum hasn’t been able to deliver for RCB in their previous two games, having scored 0 and 4 against KXIP and RR respectively. However, an explosive batsman like Baz can never be underestimated and the opposition will always entertain the possibility of him coming back with a monumental knock.

Baz’s main responsibility in the batting will, as usual, be giving RCB a strong start during the powerplay overs. At this point, Mumbai Indians will be hoping for their talismanic bowler Jasprit Bumrah to give them the early breakthrough of McCullum. Having seen McCullum depart early in previous games, Rohit Sharma is bound to deploy Bumrah early to get rid of Baz.

#2. Virat Kohli vs Mayank Markande

Kohli vs Markande will be a highly anticipated player battle

Virat Kohli began this year’s IPL on a slow note against Kolkata Knight Riders. However, his knocks became swifter in the two matches that followed. He scored a 16-ball 21 against KXIP and followed it with a 30-ball 57 against Rajasthan Royals a couple of days back. Kohli was looking dangerous against Rajasthan and had he not been dismissed, then the outcome of the match may have been different.

One thing that has to be noted is that whenever Kohli has been dismissed in this year’s IPL, the bowler has been a spinner. Hence, Mumbai Indians will be wanting their top spinner Mayank Markande to take the wicket that matters most to them.

For a 20-year old youngster who is playing his first IPL, dismissing Kohli will certainly not be a walk in the park but having dismissed big players like MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan and Shakib al Hasan, Markande will certainly be in high spirits ahead of the clash against RCB.

#1. Rohit Sharma vs Umesh Yadav

Rohit Sharma vs Umesh Yadav will be the most anticipated player battle today

This will be the battle that will probably be more anticipated than any batsman vs bowler battle. Both players are capable of delivering huge in their respective departments. Both players had poor outings in their previous games. While Rohit Sharma scored only 18 against Delhi Daredevils, Yadav conceded 59 runs against Rajasthan Royals.

However, as far as consistency is concerned, Umesh Yadav is way, way ahead of Rohit Sharma. His pace and line and length has been pretty good in most of RCB’s matches. However, the Mumbai Indians skipper can certainly not be written off.

Last year, Rohit began the tournament with a string of lacklustre performances before playing several big knocks as the league stage progressed. There is absolutely no doubt that he will do the same next season and Virat Kohli will probably be entertaining that the end to his inconsistent innings might come in today’s game. Hence, he will be hoping for Umesh Yadav to get rid of him as no other RCB has played with Rohit Sharma as much as Yadav has.