Aakash Chopra, a former India batsman said that the most exciting clash in the IPL 2021 opening match between MI and RCB will be between Jasprit Bumrah and Virat Kohli.
Five-time champions Mumbai Indians will take on Virat Kohli-led RCB, who will try to clinch their maiden titles this season, in the IPL 2021 opener on Friday.
Aakash Chopra: The Box Office Contest To Watch Out For Is Jasprit Bumrah Against Virat Kohli
While Virat Kohli will be coming into IPL 2021 off a successful limited-overs series against England, Jasprit Bumrah will be returning after a break that he had taken in the final Test and subsequent limited-overs series to get married to Sanjana Ganesan. But Aakash Chopra termed this as the ‘best vs best’ clash in the match.
“The contest to watch out for, I mean the box-office contest which you will pay to watch is the best vs best and that is Bumrah vs Kohli. Kohli is coming in good form while Bumrah is coming after a break. Kohli will be opening the batting and Bumrah will be in front of him with the new ball. It is an interesting contest because Bumrah has managed to get under the skin of Kohli.”
“As soon as Kohli comes to bat, the (Mumbai Indians) captain Rohit gives Bumrah the ball and he bowls bouncers and has got him out two-three times while playing the pull shot,” said Aakash Chopra on his Youtube channel.
Jasprit Bumrah has a good record against Virat Kohli and interestingly has got the India skipper out to claim his maiden wicket in IPL (2013) and also his 100th wicket (2020).
Aakash Chopra: Jasprit Bumrah Has Induced Virat Kohli To Play The Bad Shot
Speaking further about Virat Kohli getting out to Jasprit Bumrah while playing the pull-shot, Aakash Chopra said that the bowler has been able to induce the ‘bad shot’ from the batsman.
“Generally Virat does not get out like that, he keeps his ego aside. But against Bumrah he has tried to hit him and got out while playing a bad shot. So, that’s the contest I am looking forward to watch,” Aakash Chopra added.
Jasprit Bumrah claimed 27 wickets at 14.96 to finish as 2nd leading wicket-taker in IPL 2020. Virat Kohli managed 466 runs averaging 42.66 in IPL 2020.
MI Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla/ Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah.
RCB Probable Playing XI: Virat Kohli(c), Finn Allen (wk)/ Devdutt Padikkal, AB De Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Azharuddeen/ Rajat Patidar, Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Mohammed Siraj, Shahbaz Ahmed/ Dan Christian, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal.