IPL 2021, MI vs RR: 3 player battles to watch out for

Defending IPL champions Mumbai Indians (MI) will aim for some consistency against a severely-depleted Rajasthan Royals (RR) side when the two teams face off at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Thursday (April 29).

Mumbai have suffered two back-to-back defeats, while Rajasthan will be buoyed after their six-wicket win against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their last game. However, the Sanju Samson-led side is still stuck at seventh in the IPL 2021 points table and will be keen to make a push upwards.

Ahead of the clash, we take a look at the player matchups to watch out for.

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#1 Rohit Sharma vs Jaydev Unadkat

Unadkat's well-disguised slower ball has been one of his biggest strengths and unfortunately for Rohit, that's been a chink he's yet to fix. The pacer comes into this match with four wickets from three games at an economy of 6.66.

Rohit has been consistent at the top of the order for MI. He's been off to good starts, setting the tone for the middle-order to take over. With 201 runs from five matches that include one fifty, the MI skipper will look to play one of those stellar knocks against the struggling RR.

Get the IPL schedule 2021 for the next matches here.

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#2 Jasprit Bumrah vs Jos Buttler

Bumrah has always managed to get the better of Buttler, dismissing him thrice across T20s. He will be eager to take out the Englishman again.

Bumrah is yet to make a valuable contribution for MI this season. His four wickets so far suggest he is a tad off-color and will be eager to move up in the wickets column.

Buttler has been patchy, scoring just 89 runs from five games at an average of 17.80. With Sanju Samson blowing hot and cold, the onus is on Buttler to play a defining innings for RR.

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#3 Chetan Sakariya vs Suryakumar Yadav

Surya has enjoyed a decent run in the middle for MI this season, with 154 runs from five matches at an average of 30.80 and a strike rate of 143.92. His battle against RR's Chetan Sakariya will make for a spicy contest.

The youngster already has seven wickets in his debut season and will look to add more to the tally even as RR suffer from a lack of teeth in their bowling unit. His 8.30 economy might be a bit of a concern, but RR will be fine as long as the left-arm quick is amongst the wickets.