IPL 2020: Match 48, MI vs RCB – MI Predicted Playing XI

Leading a champion-like campaign this year, the Mumbai Indians are just on the verge of an official playoff qualification, which they would be keen to approach when they meet the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Wednesday at Abu Dhabi.

Despite the absence of their designated skipper and star opener Rohit Sharma, MI have not let the flags go down. Although they are coming into this encounter after a demoralising defeat against the Rajasthan Royals in their last fixture, the team must take heart that they stretched their score to 195 after making a jittery start.

However, in what was a rare failure for the bowlers, MI failed to defend the target and eventually lost the game by a hefty margin of eight wickets after Ben Stokes’ second IPL century.

Here is the Predicted Playing XI for the Mumbai Indians for MI vs RCB match: 

Openers: Ishan Kishan, Quinton de Kock (WK)

The opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock was firing well for the team until the former’s hamstring injury thwarted his run. Sharma, who has not been included in any of the three squads released by the BCCI for India’s tour of Australia this year, has been out of action in the last couple of games for his IPL team.

Although MI have not looked in much trouble as Ishan Kishan has rolled with the punches and has taken up the responsibility maturely in the last couple of games.

De Kock has been having a nice outing in the UAE and he is one of the top 10 scorers this year with 374 runs at 41.55 with four half-centuries already. Though the Protea wicketkeeper-batsman missed clicking in the last game, he has been performing his duties well with both bat and gloves.

Middle Order: Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Hardik Pandya

The most exciting part of Mumbai’s campaign this year has been the manner in which different players have stepped up for the team at different times. While the openers have given solid starts, the men in the middle-order have played their role to perfection as well.

For instance, in the last game, when MI lost a few early wickets and was desperately in search of some rhythm, out came Hardik Pandya and decimated the opposition with his blitzkrieg knock of 60 off merely 21. Saurabh Tiwary got a chance at the start of the tournament, and he played a couple of decent knocks to justify his candidature.

Although, Kishan’s entry in the middle-order removed him out of contention. With the latter being used as an opener, this is Tiwary’s chance to make the most out of these appearances. Suryakumar Yadav, who has got 283 runs in 11 innings with a strike rate of 149 this year, will continue to bat at number three for the team.

All-Rounders: Kieron Pollard and Krunal Pandya

Kieron Pollard has played the role of an all-rounder for his team after a long break as he was not being used as a bowler in the last couple of seasons. Though Hardik Pandya’s back injury has forced him to compensate for the latter’s job with the ball.

Pollard has been dismissed only twice this year and he is striking at almost 200. On the other hand, Krunal Pandya has been doing his job well and he will be the other all-rounder in the unit.

Bowlers: James Pattinson, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul Chahar

MI’s pace trio has reaped immense success this year with all three in Pattinson, Boult, and Bumrah testing the opponent batsmen with some searing pace and lethal swing. Though Mumbai tried giving an opportunity to Nathan Coulter-Nile, his high economy and lack of discipline brought Pattinson back into the scheme of things.

Though the bowlers were unable to make the last game count, the duo of Bumrah and Boult – who have bagged 17 and 16 wickets respectively – has been wreaking havoc with consistency.

The young spinner Rahul Chahar has been assisting the pacers well and has done well to grab the valuable chance given to him this year by the management.