IPL 2016 preview: Mumbai vs Bangalore in battle of the giants

Tags: Indian premier league 2016, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, 14th Match at Mumbai, Apr 20, 2016

Published on: Apr 20, 2016

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Two of the strongest teams in the IPL, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore, will face off at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday. With the teams closely matched, neither of the sides will go in as favourites, and their past head-to-head also points towards the conclusion that there is no clear winner

Two of the strongest teams in the IPL, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore, will face off at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday. With the teams closely matched, neither of the sides will go in as favourites, and their past head-to-head also points towards the conclusion that there is no clear winner when the teams meet. Both teams have suffered setback in recent matches, and will have to recover quickly. Mumbai went down to the unfancied Sunrisers Hyderabad in their previous match while Royal Challengers Bangalore were stunned by a special hundred from Quinton de Kock as Delhi shocked them.
Mumbai have suffered heavily this season because their high-profile batting line up hasn't fired. In the only match, they have won this season, skipper Rohit Sharma came up with a fantastic batting display. But, otherwise, he has had a very poor season so far. Same has been the case with others. Martin Guptill has come in for Lendl Simmons, and Mumbai can hope he can provide the rollicking start for the team at the top of the order. Rohit promoted himself down the order last match, and allowed Parthiv Patel to open with Guptill. But, he could be seen going back to the top of the order against Bangalore.
Mumbai might ring in some changes in the batting department for the Bangalore game. The unfit Kieron Pollard missed the last game, but he could come in for either Parthiv or even Jos Buttler, who has shown glimpses of brilliance, but hasn't exactly set the stage on fire. In the bowling department, Mitchell McClenaghan has raised his game, and has led the bowling attack well. They would expect better out of the more experienced Kiwi pacer Tim Southee though. Harbhajan Singh remains an integral part of the bowling unit, but Hardik Pandya needs to do more with bat and ball, to justify his place as a genuine all-rounder in the team.
Bangalore will be forced to make a change as explosive opener Chris Gayle has flown back to West Indies to be with his wife for the birth of their child. But, RCB wouldn't be weakened much since they have achieved all their success this season with supreme batting efforts from skipper Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. In the absence of Gayle, there is a distinct possibity that the dynamic duo might open together. And, if they fire again, Mumbai could be in big trouble. The form of the experienced Shane Watson with both bat and ball will please them. Sarfaraz Khan will also be watched closely after his cameo heroics.
The one department where Bangalore stood exposed against Delhi was definitely the bowling. While it is true that de Kock played a near-flawless knock, Bangalore could have done better with the ball. They are definitely missing the services of injured T20 specialist Samuel Badree. With Mitchell Starc ruled out of the entire season, they have had to depend on the likes of Harshal Patel and David Wiese to deliver, who were completely taken apart by de Kock. Yuzvendra Chahal and Sreenath Aravind also did their confidence no good with underwhelming efforts. While both Bangalore and Mumbai are strong sides, opponents have been able to exploit their weaknesses, which makes for an interesting premise.
-- By A Cricket Analyst

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