IPL 2019: Royal Challengers Bangalore probable playing XI against Mumbai Indians

For the seventh encounter of IPL 2019, Royal Challengers Bangalore will be up against Mumbai Indians at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday.

Both RCB and MI started their IPL campaign with a loss. RCB and CSK locked horns in the 2019 IPL opener which turned out to to be a one-sided encounter that Chennai won by seven wickets. MI kicked off their IPL tourney with a game against Delhi Capitals who turned out to be too good for Mumbai as they lost the game by 37 runs.

However, Bangalore would be coming off worse from their loss. The reason being RCB, who boasts a massive batting line-up, bundled out to a meagre score of 70. Nonetheless, putting aside their demons, RCB will look to get their first points on the IPL Points Table when they host Mumbai Indians in Bangalore.

Thus, let us look at Royal Challengers Bangalore's probable playing XI for their upcoming clash against Mumbai Indians.

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Openers: Parthiv Patel (WK) and Virat Kohli (C)

Parthiv Patel and Virat Kohli opened the innings for RCB in their previous game. The opening combination didn't deliver the goods for RCB as Patel failed to score runs at a higher strike-rate whereas Virat fell quite early on in the innings.

However, in the upcoming encounter against Mumbai, both Kohli and Parthiv will look to unleash their potential and will hope to score plenty for their side.

Middle-Order: AB de Villiers and Shimron Hetymer

AB de Villiers had a mediocre start to his IPL season. Despite that, Mr. 360 will be looking forward to getting back to his usual fiery form with the following game against Mumbai Indians. A good game against Mumbai will set the tone for the remainder of IPL 2019.

Shimron Hetymer, one of the most talked-about batsmen at the auction, started his IPL season on a sorry note as he failed to contribute playing in the middle-order. The West Indian will be hoping to justify his hype in the upcoming clash against the three-time IPL champions.

All-rounders: Shivam Dube, Colin de Grandhomme, and Washington Sundar

After a top-order and middle-order failure for RCB in the game against Chennai, Shivam Dube had a steep task to stabilize Bengaluru's batting line-up. Unfortunately, he succumbed to the pressure and fell on a low score of 2. Meanwhile, with the ball, he didn't get a chance to showcase his talent.

Colin de Grandhomme performed on the same lines as he didn't notch-up runs for RCB. Much like Shivam, de Grandhomme didn't get a chance to roll his arm over either. Nevertheless, RCB will expect a much-improved performance from the Kiwi, more so with the bat in the next game.

Washington Sundar didn't get a place in RCB's playing XI against Chennai which was a bit unusual as Bengaluru's spin department seemed a bit off. Thus, in the game against Mumbai, Virat will look to bolster his spin bowling options by adding Sundar to the playing XI.

Bowlers: Tim Southee, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umesh Yadav, and Mohammed Siraj

With quite a few youngsters at their disposal, RCB lacks experience in their pace department. Thus, Tim Southee, veteran Kiwi pacer, will most likely be in the playing XI. Southee's addition would unquestionably strengthen RCB's fast bowling department to a great extent.

Yuzvendra Chahal had a fantabulous game against Chennai. In his quota of four overs, the Haryana-born spinner gave away six runs while picking up one wicket. Chahal would be hoping to replicate the same in the next game.

Umesh Yadav happens to be one of the very few experienced pacers in RCB's fast bowling line-up. The paceman from Vidarbha performed decently in the game against Chennai. Much so, Kohli will be eager to utilize Yadav's experience in the upcoming clash against Mumbai as well.

Mohammed Siraj had a decent game against Chennai in the 2019 IPL opener. In the match against Chennai, the pacer Hyderabad bowled a total of two overs and gave away just five runs while also bowling a maiden over. Consequently, he will be hoping to carry forward his sumptuous form in the following game.

Probable Playing XI for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Mumbai Indians: Parthiv Patel (WK), Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers, Shimron Hetmyer, Shivam Dube, Colin de Grandhomme, Washington Sundar, Tim Southee, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umesh Yadav, and Mohammed Siraj.