The most successful team in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Mumbai Indians are yet to win a match in this ongoing eleventh edition of the lucrative Twenty20 tournament.
Indians have lost three close matches and will be looking to get their campaign back on track. They will meet Virat Kohli‘s Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the 14th match of the competition at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Indians suffered three last-ball defeats which haven’t allowed them to keep their morale as good as they would have liked.
However, we have seen in the past how Mumbai Indians have made remarkable comebacks.
Given the credibility of the side, one cannot really rule out a comeback from the most successful team in the tournament.
Most of the matches from here on will be must-win encounters for Mumbai. One more defeat will surely push them to the backfoot and will take something miraculous to force their way back into the tournament.
The margins of the victories have given some hope to the Mumbai Indians or as Pollard adds: “If we were down right now, we should be home.”
In most of the matches, all the batsmen more or less came handy barring skipper Rohit Sharma, He needs to rise to the occasion and inspire the team, in order to make their way back into the tournament.
Meanwhile, Bangalore is still trying to find out what has been going wrong for them. They won against the Kings XI Punjab but lost against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KRR) and the Rajasthan Royals (RR).
The star-studded side hasn’t been able to gel together in most of the seasons. However, this season has started off in the same manner.
Captain Virat Kohli scored a magnificent half-century against the Rajasthan Royals, but it wasn’t enough to give them a victory.
The bowlers were found wanting in the previous encounter against Rajasthan when they were plundered for 217 runs in 20 overs.
Highly-impressive Sanju Samson played a brilliant knock of 92 off 45 deliveries. His unbeaten innings included a couple of fours and 10 sixes.
Bangalore team would need to surely pull their socks and start performing as a bowling unit.
On the other hand, Mumbai will be looking to register their maiden victory in the tournament at their home ground.
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Team Combinations –
Mumbai Indians
The Mumbai outfit has a solid team but has failed to deliver in crunch situations. The move to go with mystery spinner Akila Dananjaya didn’t quite work. They might employ the services of JP Duminy in Dhananjay’s place.
Mumbai’s decision to send Suryakumar Yadav with Evin Lewis worked wonders and they will surely keep the combination at least for the next couple of matches.
Meanwhile young leg-spinner Mayank Markande has been the find for Mumbai Indians this season so far.
Predicted XI: Suryakumar Yadav, Evin Lewis, Ishan Kishan(w), Rohit Sharma(c), Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Akila Dananjaya/JP Duminy, Mayank Markande, Jasprit Bumrah, Mustafizur Rahman
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Royal Challengers Bangalore:
The Bangalore outfit has got their combination right in only one out of the 3 games. Umesh Yadav bowled brilliantly in one of the games but was smashed for 58 runs in his four overs spell against Rajasthan.
Kulwant Khejroliya, who went for runs in the previous encounter might make way for the inclusion of Mohammed Siraj. They should strengthen their middle order which wasn’t the case in the previous few matches.
Predicted XI: Brendon McCullum, Quinton de Kock(w), Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Pawan Negi, Washington Sundar, Chris Woakes, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal
Match Prediction:
Both teams have started off their campaign in an indifferent manner. While Mumbai is winless in the tournament so far, Bangalore has won one out of their three encounters.
Mumbai Indians will be playing in front of their home ground.
Given their home advantage, I have a gut feeling that Mumbai might win their first match of the tournament.
