The much-awaited Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to get rolling from April 9 (Friday) with defending champions Mumbai Indians locking horns with Royal Challengers Bangalore at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. It will be a mouthwatering clash with both sides boasting some of the best players in the game.
While the defending champions have retained their core unit, RCB spent big bucks at the 2021 auction to acquire the services of Glenn Maxwell and Kyle Jamieson to strengthen them further. Yet, much like most of the seasons, where they seemed to have assembled a strong squad, the winning formula is yet to be discovered.
Mumbai Indians will look to break their first-match jinx and to do so, they might field two spinners – Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya keeping in mind the spin-friendly tracks in Chennai. Despite Rohit Sharma & Co’s recent dominance in Chennai, their top-order hasn’t enjoyed a good run either and the management will hope for a better showdown from their batters in the opening game.
On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore are likely to miss the service of opener Devdutt Padikkal in the tournament. He has just recovered from COVID-19 and has joined the squad in Chennai a couple of days back. Mike Hesson & Co will have to ponder about their Indian combinations while AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Christian, and Kyle Jamieson make up their overseas combinations.
IPL 2021: Match 1, Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai from 7:30 PM IST
Match Prediction – Who will win the match?
Mumbai Indians’ second-best win percentage is against Royal Challengers Bangalore (among all teams against whom they have played more than six matches), and yet despite their dominance, Virat Kohli’s side managed to run them close twice last year and even become one of only three teams to beat MI’s full-strength XI.
It will be the clash of the titans when both teams lock horns in the IPL 2021 season opener but the defending champions considering the set team they have are expected to break their first match jinx on Friday.
