Defending champions Mumbai Indians face off against three-time finalists Royal Challengers Bangalore to kick off IPL 2021. This is a quick turnaround in the IPL with two back to back seasons happening in a space of six months. The two teams have two very different histories in the tournament. One team is a five-time champion, while the other is yet to get their hands on the trophy. More about the IPL 2021 Match 1 Preview in detail. 

Rohit Sharma taking on Virat Kohli is an exciting prospect for an IPL season opener. Premier players of their respective franchises both players are raring to go. Winning the season is a bigger goal that the players will set for themselves. Both the players hate losing and hating losing to each other. 

Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore have all their players fit and available and players who are having a point to prove this season. None of the teams will have any home advantage, which means both teams will miss the crowd support. They will be playing at a neutral venue, Chennai. RCB especially does not enjoy a good success rate at this venue and against Mumbai, it comes down to 37.04 percent. 

Both teams have roped in some exciting talent in their teams. The enigmatic Glenn Maxwell will be playing for the RCB this season, It will be interesting to see what does he bring to the tale for Banglore. Meanwhile, the opposition has newbies like Arjun Tendulkar, James Neesham and the experienced leggie in Piyush Chawla. It will be an interesting match-up between Chawla and the big hitters of the RCB in the middle-order. Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult, the Mumbai pace duo is another factor that the RCB batsmen will have to tackle in the opener.

Also Read: IPL 2021: Match 1 – Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore – Match Prediction

Head To Head: Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Matches Played: 27

MI Won: 17

RCB Won: 9

Tied: 1

Pitch & Weather Conditions: Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Its summer time in India and the conditions at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram stadium for the IPL 2021 match 1 will be hot and humid. Chennai has historically been a spin-friendly track dishing out scores in between 150-160. The two teams have a few good spinners in their ranks. However, this being a tournament opener, the pitch might be at its flattest and most suited for batting. Spin will definitely play a part in the contest.

Team News: For IPL 2021 Match 1 MI vs RCB

Quinton De Kock will make a bubble to bubble transfer and will be available for the first game. Mumbai generally plays with Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya but given the recent form of AB De Villiers and Virat Kohli against leggies, Mumbai might be tempted to play the experienced Chawla against them both. Rest of the team will be the same with Pollard and Boult being the other two overseas players.

RCB will have Devdutt Padikkal available for selection for the opener having resumed training. Glenn Maxwell, Kylie Jamieson and AB De Villiers will be the three overseas specialists. Their bowling attack will be majorly dependent on their Indian bowlers and more especially on Yuzvendra Chahal.   

Squads

Royal Challengers Bangalore 

Virat Kohli(c), Devdutt Padikkal, AB de Villiers(w), Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Daniel Christian, Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kane Richardson, Harshal Patel, Adam Zampa, Sachin Baby, Srikar Bharat, Pavan Deshpande, Rajat Patidar, Finn Allen, Suyash Prabhudessai, Shahbaz Ahmed

Mumbai Indians  

Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Piyush Chawla, Dhawal Kulkarni, Saurabh Tiwary, Aditya Tare, Adam Milne, Chris Lynn, Jayant Yadav, Anmolpreet Singh, Quinton de Kock, Anukul Roy, Mohsin Khan, Arjun Tendulkar, Marco Jansen, Yudhvir Singh

Also Read: IPL 2021: Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore- Fantasy Tips, Predicted XI, Top Fantasy Picks