All eyes will be on the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Monday when two of the best cricketers-cum-captains of modern-day cricket, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, will square off in an IPL league encounter that promises fireworks.
The Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai comes into the game with their heads held high after an impressive win over Kolkata Knight Riders. The likes of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Saurabh Tiwary have been amongst the runs. Add the likes of Quinton de Kock and big hitters like Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard, they possess a powerful batting line-up. This does not augur well for Bangalore pacers, who were taken for 80 runs in the last five overs against Kings XI Punjab, exposing Bangalore’s Achilles heel.
Umesh Yadav has been way off the mark, conceding 35 and 48 runs in his two matches. Dale Steyn went for 57 in the last game. And what makes it worse is that they are the senior most pacers in the squad. It would not come as a surprise if Yadav is replaced by Mohammed Siraj. Navdeep Saini also looked below par in the last game. They cannot just depend on Yuzvendra Chahal against Mumbai batsmen.
Undoubtedly, Kohli would not just eye a win against MI, but will also try to rectify the errors made by him with the bat as RCB heavily relies on him while chasing or setting up a total. Meanwhile, AB de Villers, the other vital cog in RCB, too will aim to get some runs under his belt.
Similarly, young Devdutt Padikkal began his IPL career with a magnificent half-century but tasted failure against KXIP when scored just one run. The 20-year-old player will surely aim to be consistent. The RCB team management will once again hope the young opener would provide a flying start against one of the best team in business.
However, it wouldn't be an easy task for Padikkal with MI's armory boasting of bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, James Pattinson, and Trent Boult. Padikkal opening partner is once again likely to be destructive batter Aaron Finch as the team management won't like to tinker much with their combination.
Finch would try to convert starts into massive totals while de Villers is expected to come up with fireworks in the middle-order as Shivam Dube and Josh Philippe have failed to fire so far. Philippe's batting position will be another concern for the RCB skipper and team management.
Indian Premier League IPL 2020 RCB vs MI Dream11 team for Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians:
RCB vs MI My Dream11 Team captain: Rohit Sharma
RCB vs MI My Dream11 Team vice-captain: Virat Kohli
Wicket-keeper: Quinton de Kock
Batsmen: AB de Villiers, Aaron Finch
All-rounders: Krunal Pandya, Shivam Dubey
Bowlers: James Pattinson, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal
Squads:
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (captain), Sherfane Rutherford, Suryakumar Yadav, Anmolpreet Singh, Chris Lynn, Saurabh Tiwary, Ishan Kishan, Quinton de Kock, Aditya Tare, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Anukul Roy, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaspreet Bumrah, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Mohsin Khan, Prince Balwant Rai Singh, Digvijay Deshmukh, Jayant Yadav, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Pattinson
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (captain), Parthiv Patel, AB de Villiers, Chris Morris, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shivam Dubey, Aaron Finch, Umesh Yadav, Adam Zampa, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Dale Steyn, Moeen Ali, Pawan Negi, Gurkeerat Mann Singh, Isuru Udana, Devdutt Padikkal, Shahbaz Ahamad, Joshua Philippe, Pavan Deshpande