The contest between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians is a very interesting one for a few reasons. Firstly its the competition between two of India’s best players, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as they both go face to face this season.
On the hand its also a contest between batting of RCB against the quality bowling attack of Mumbai Indians consisting the likes of Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah and James Pattinson.
Which is why by all means we have to watch out for a for few players in the game as it’s going to be a contest of extremely high volume going in. We will have to see which team propels at the end of this game as its the ultimate battle between the men in blue and men in red.
Let’s take a look at the 5 key players to watch out for in the MI vs RCB game:
1. Devdutt Padikkal
The young batting prodigy Devdutt Padikkal marked his arrival in fashion as he notched up a fifty to be the first Indian to score a fifty on IPL debut. Though Devdutt didn’t really have a great outing in the 2nd game against the Kings XI Punjab but you cannot count someone out based on just one game as we expect him to bounce back with a big score in the match against Mumbai Indians.
Also read: 5 Things You Need To Know About Devdutt Padikkal
If he continues his form, the Royal Challengers Bangalore might just pose a serious chance of winning the Indian Premier League for the very first time in 13 years.
2. Quinton De Kock
During the first game against Chennai Super Kings, Quinton looked in fine touch as he was connecting the ball much better than the likes of Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard. As a result, the newly appointed South African captain will look to play his part with the bat and will also look to be a safeguard behind the stumps.
Though he didn’t really get off the mark against Kolkata Knight Riders, We should expect a big inning from the man very soon as he is one of the 5 players to watch out for from RCB vs MI game.
3. Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzi Chahal has been a star for the Royal Challengers Bangalore over the years. The last time IPL was conducted in the UAE, Chahal didn’t concede a single boundary in the first 3-4 matches he played. When a bowler isn’t getting hit for many boundaries then you should understand what sort of capabilities the leg spinner possesses.
He has that sheer ability to flight the ball forcing the batsmen to play off the front foot. Also, let’s not forget his super quality spell in their first match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad where he bowled a match-winning spell.
4. Virat Kohli
Well, Virat Kohli has two bad games this season but he surely won’t have a third bad game Because he’s Virat Kohli the run machine. After having lost the previous game against Kings XI Punjab, Virat will look to bounce back in style. We expect the RCB skipper to be the highest scorer for his side as he would go on to win the match for his side today.
He will obviously have the support of AB De Villiers out in the middle as both would look to get RCB their 2nd win of the season. Talking about Kohli’s struggles against Bumrah, the Mumbai pacer has troubled him in the past which is why in all likelihood, Kohli would look to play off Bumrah’s overs first and then look to attack the other bowlers in the MI side.
5. James Pattinson
When James Pattinson was picked in the Mumbai Indians side in place of Lasith Malinga a lot many eyebrows were raised. Since we have always seen Pattinson as the test bowler but in this IPL we have witnessed Pattinson as the T20 bowler.
By all means, Pattinson has shown his white-ball capabilities in the two matches he has played for the Mumbai Indians franchise so far.
The Australian speedster has picked up 3 key wickets this season at an economy of just under 7 which is sensational for someone opening the bowling in the powerplays upfront.