IPL 2019: RCB VS MI - 3 Key player battles to watch out for

ln one of the most awaited clashes of IPL 2019, RCB will take on Mumbai Indians in their home stadium on Thursday. More than anything, it is going to be a clash of captains. Virat Kohli will want to prove that he is the better captain and it should be a run-fest and the track is known to not assist the bowlers.

What makes the match more interesting is that the premier pacer of the Indian team - Jasprit Bumrah, has challenged the skipper Virat Kohli to face him in the match. IPL released a promo of the match where Kohli warns Bumrah to not expect any leniency from him.

The match should be an interesting one with Rohit Sharma also facing one of the finest Indian bowlers, Yuzvendra Chahal.

While Kohli is not a huge fan of player battles and believes in sticking to his plans, Rohit Sharma is really fond of matchups between players and this has been seen in all his captaincy stints of the Indian team as well as in the IPL.

Here are three interesting player battles that fans could watch out for:-

#1 Colin De Grandhomme vs Hardik Pandya

Both the all-rounders will be looking to get better of each other

Unlike all player battles where it's just one batsman versus one bowler, this player battle involves two all-rounders showcasing both their batting and their bowling skills. Neither of them have had a good start to the IPL so far.

Pandya got out for a duck in a high run chase while Colin De Grandhomme failed to prove his worth with the bat when Banglore was in trouble against Chennai. Both of them also bowl at death which is the time when both of these come out to bat.

It will be rather interesting to see who gets the better of whom both in the batting and bowling departments. Both of them will be trusted to provide with some huge hits with the bat and roll over their arms for a couple of decent overs.

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#2 Rohit Sharma vs Umesh Yadav

Rohit Sharma will hope to give Mumbai a good start

The second player battle that most fans would be waiting for will be the one between the Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma and Umesh Yadav.

Umesh Yadav is someone who has constantly troubled Mumbai with his pace and bounce. Even in his last match against Mumbai in 2018, he picked up 2 wickets in 2 balls to leave them reeling at 21/3 in a high run chase which eventually led RCB to win against the three-time IPL champions.

Umesh Yadav has dismissed Rohit Sharma thrice in IPL, while Sharma has an average in excess of 50 against Yadav coupled with a towering strike rate of more than a 150. What makes the battle more interesting is that Umesh Yadav bowls in the powerplay overs while Rohit Sharma is opening the batting for his team.

Also, if Rohit Sharma survives the powerplay overs, he will have to face Umesh Yadav again in the death overs and that is when scoring as well as taking wickets is tough. Both players will be looking to outperform each other and it will be something most fans will be looking forward to seeing.

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#3 Virat Kohli vs Jasprit Bumrah

Can the skipper outperform his best bowler?

If I were to select only one player battle from the whole season, it would undoubtedly be this one. The best T20 bowler in the world with the best batsman across all formats, this player battle is so hyped that even IPL couldn't resist taking out a promo.

Even though Jasprit Bumrah suffered an injury in the opening match, he is back in form and the coaches have suggested that he should make it to the playing XI. Virat Kohli meanwhile hasn't had the best start to this edition of the IPL. Neither MI nor RCB have won any of their games and both Kohli and Bumrah will be looking to give their best shot in the game to secure a win.

Both are immensely talented and are extremely hard working and with Kohli opening for RCB and Bumrah opening bowling for Mumbai Indians, it couldn't have been better.

Looking at stats, Bumrah has dismissed Kohli only once in the IPL. Back in 2013, Kohli had just been handed over the captaincy and Bumrah was rather unheard of. That was the only time when Bumrah could get his skipper's wicket. With the world cup approaching, it would be interesting to see if Bumrah can bowl well to the legends of the game and to the likes of Kohli.

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