A well balanced squad at their disposal, Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to maintain their recent winning momentum against Mumbai Indians when the two sides clash in their opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on Sunday. Bengaluru boasts of three consecutive victories against Rohit Sharma and Co. in their last five meetings since the 14th edition of the tournament. The franchise, led by Faf du Plessis, with the ever-experienced Virat Kohli by his side, would want to make the most of their campaign opener in a desperate bid for maiden title win in the league.
However, with the likes of Rajat Patidar and Josh Hazlewood having been sidelined for at least the first half of this IPL due to injuries, a lot remains at stake for the side. It will be hard for the side to find someone fill in the shoes of Patidar, who was their third highest-scorer last year with 333 runs in eight matches at 55.50, including two fifties. He hit the fastest century by an Indian in IPL in the Qualifier 1. If Patidar contributed with consistent flow of runs, Hazlewood, on the other hand, was the team`s second most successful bowler with 20 wickets in 20 matches.
Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, finished the last edition lurking at bottom of the points table with only four wins from 14 matches. Mumbai, which is the most successful team in IPL history with five trophies in their cabinet, will aim to put their best foot forward against a formidable RCB side.
Without their ace bowler Jasprit Bumrah and Jhye Richardson who are ruled out for the season, MI`s hopes will be pinned on Jofra Archer to fill the void and guide the other bowlers that the team management has marked out. Captain Sharma and the experienced Suryakumar Yadav will be the linchpins in the batting order, alongside youngsters Tilak Verma, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs and Tim David for company.
Also Read: IPL 2023: Can Mumbai Indians surf on Virat Kohli’s turf tonight?
RCB vs MI: Dream11 Prediction
Wicketkeeper: Dinesh Karthik
Batters: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David
All-rounders: Michael Bracewell, Cameron Green, Shahbaz Ahmed
Bowlers: Reece Topley, Mohammed Siraj, Jofra Archer (vc)
RCB vs MI: Complete squads
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Sandeep Warrier, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Dewald Brevis, Tilak Varma, Jofra Archer, Tim David, Mohd Arshad Khan, Ramandeep Singh, Hrithik Shokeen, Arjun Tendulkar, Tristan Stubbs, Kumar Kartikeya, Jason Behrendorff, Akash Madhwal, Cameron Green, Jhye Richardson, Piyush Chawla, Duan Jansen, Vishnu Vinod, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera, Raghav Goyal
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf Du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammad Siraj, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik, Shahbaz Ahemad, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Akash Deep, Josh Hazlewood, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Suyash Prabhudessai, Karn Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, David Willey, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Sonu Yadav, Micheal Bracewell
RCB vs MI: Predicted Playing XIs
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Cameron Green, Ramandeep Singh, Jofra Archer, Hrithik Shokeen, Sandeep Warrier, Jason Behrendorff
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis (capt), Virat Kohli, Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Michael Bracewell, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Suyash Prabudessai, Harshal Patel, Akash Deep, Reece Topley
RCB vs MI: Toss update
Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis wins toss, opts to bowl first against Mumbai Indians.
RCB vs MI: Confirmed Playing XIs
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Glenn Maxwell, Michael Bracewell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik(w), Karn Sharma, Harshal Patel, Akash Deep, Reece Topley, Mohammed Siraj
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Cameron Green, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Hrithik Shokeen, Piyush Chawla, Jofra Archer, Arshad Khan
Follow the live updates below.
7:40 PM: 12/1 after 3 overs
Siraj shapes the ball onto Kishan’s pads, who looks on cluelessly. Then the next ball. That`s a wicket! In the air and taken at third! Cameron Green walks in at 3. He is off the mark with a quick single to mid-off. Siraj attacks the stumps and Rohit blocks it out.
7:30 PM: Match begins!
Mumbai Indians off to a fine start with Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma. Reece Topley gets smashed for a couple of boundaries in the second over of RCB.
