IPL 10, Match 12, RCB v MI, Preview: All eyes on Kohli as Royal Challengers Bangalore host in-form Mumbai Indians

The Royal Challengers Bangalore are all set to play their second home game of the season. They have got a big boost ahead of their clash against the Mumbai Indians. Regular skipper Virat Kohli has been declared match fit and is all set to get on board for the match. The visiting Mumbai camp will surely be aware of the big threat that Kohli can prove to be on his given day.

However, going by the recent form of the two teams, the Mumbai Indians surely hold the upper edge in the match. Mumbai have won their last two matches in fine fashion after having lost their season opener. On the other hand, the RCB have had an up and down ride in the tournament thus far. They had lost their first game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

They came back strong in their home game against the Delhi Daredevils and then lost their plot against the Kings XI Punjab in an away fixture. They will be hoping that the return of Virat Kohli and the fact that they are playing at the home venue will bolster their chances for the match. The two teams share a rich history of some brilliant matches between them and it is needless to say that a cracker of a game is on the cards for the weekend.

Toss: Mumbai Indians won the toss and opted to field.

Quotes from the toss:Virat Kohli:

Virat Kohli: The wicket looks good to bat on. Shouldn’t change throughout the game. Would have bowled first as well. Good to be back on the field and we need to pull our socks and get back in the groove. Badree plays his first game for RCB. Shane Watson misses out too. Chris Gayle comes in.

Rohit Sharma: We will field first. The wicket is dry and I’m hoping that it will settle down once the lights come on. The last two games were brilliant, hoping to continue the momentum. I’m sure guys will respond well. Malinga is not fit. Southee comes in.

Focus will be on

Rohit Sharma

The Mumbai Indians skipper has been a big failure in the tournament thus far. He has failed to get in the double digits in his three outings with the bat in the tournament this year. He has looked highly vulnerable against the spin bowling and that is something the Mumbai camp will be worried about. Coming into the game, he will be under a lot of pressure to perform given the kind of dry run he has had post his return from the injury.

Virat Kohli

While Rohit will be under the scanner for Mumbai Indians, there will be one man from the opposition who will be bagging all the headlines in the match. Virat Kohli will be back on the cricket field after almost being sidelined for two weeks due to a shoulder injury. It will be interesting to see how he fares up in the match given the fact that he has not been in a good touch in the most recent times. He had failed to score freely in the Test series against Australia. Prior to that, he had a phenomenal home season in the Test series.

Tymal Mills

Tymal Mills is yet to show prove his class in the tournament. He had come into the tournament riding on a big reputation of being a T20 specialist. He has been impressive with his bowling in the powerplays this season. However, when it comes to the death overs, he has not been as effective as he is renowned for being. Mills has been successful in breaking partnerships but not so effective in controlling the run flow. He has the ability to bowl with sheer pace clocking over 150 kmph. In addition to that, he has a very deceptive slower ball in his armory. He holds the key to RCB bowling against a side that Mumbai Indians that has some serious batting depth.

Team Combination – Royal Challengers Bangalore

The Royal Challengers Bangalore are likely to have one big change in their line up. Skipper Virat Kohli will assume the captaincy duties and be back at the top order for the team. He might well open with someone like Shane Watson, who is yet to perform in the tournament. AB de Villiers at number 3 only adds to the batting might of the RCB side. Mandeep Singh will see himself being in the middle order along with Kedar Jadhav, who already has a fifty to his name in the tournament.

Pawan Negi could play the role of the finisher unless the team opts for an extra pacer in Sreenath Arvind. Iqbal Abdulla and Yuzvendra Chahal seem to be the two spinners who are set in the lineup. Among the pace bowlers, the overseas duo of Billy Stanlake and Tymal Mills have got a couple of chances of bowling in tandem but are yet to show their exploits.

Team Combination – Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians are renowned for not tinkering with their playing combinations. Now that they have won two games in a row, it is unlikely that they will make changes to their settled unit. Jos Buttler and Parthiv Patel look settled as the openers. Patel was brilliant on the night against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Rohit Sharma in the middle order is the only weak link at the moment when it comes to the current form of the players. Nitish Rana has been a revelation for them and is the most successful Mumbai batsman till now.

Also read | IPL 10: Match 11, Who Said What: Kolkata Knight Riders v Kings XI Punjab

Kieron Pollard has not been firing but the team camp might give him another go before moving on to someone like Asela Gunaratne who is warming the bench. The Pandya brothers have looked in sublime hitting form with both of them getting runs under their belts. The bowling department is settled with overseas duo of Lasith Malinga and Mitch McClenaghan, combined with the precision of Jasprit Bumrah. Harbhajan Singh has been impressive with his spin in the powerplays.

Playing XI:

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli(c), Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Kedar Jadhav(w), Mandeep Singh, Stuart Binny, Pawan Negi, Tymal Mills, Sreenath Aravind, Samuel Badree, Yuzvendra Chahal

Mumbai Indians: Parthiv Patel(w), Jos Buttler, Rohit Sharma(c), Nitish Rana, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Harbhajan Singh, Tim Southee, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah

StatAttack

191 – Krunal Pandya had the strike rate of 191 in IPL 2016 – the highest for any batsman in the tournament.

144 – Number of wickets taken by Lasith Malinga in the IPL history. He is the leading wicket-taker in the IPL.

3874 – Number of runs scored by Rohit Sharma in IPL history. He is the third leading run scorer in the IPL history behind Virat Kohli (4110) and Suresh Raina (4098).

687 – Number of runs scored by AB de Villiers in IPL 2016 – the second most by an RCB batsman after Virat Kohli’s 973.