Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians are on the road and play their first away match of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday. After a disappointing loss in the season opener against Delhi Capitals, it is imperative MI put on a good show and get their confidence up against a Bangalore team that also lost their first match of the season. Mumbai have a better record against Bangalore having won 14 and lost 9 out of the 23 games between the two teams. While Mumbai did beat Bangalore at the Wankhede last year; they lost the reverse clash against the Royal Challengers at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Head-to-head record

MI 14-9 RCB

From the MI dugout

MI will be desperate to make amends after losing to Delhi at home last time around. To do so, Mumbai will need to build more partnerships than they did against the Capitals. The openers Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock need to deliver at the top of the order, while the bowlers featuring the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Mitchell McClenaghan need to tighten things up at the death after failing to contain the batsmen during the slog overs in their previous outing. Yuvraj Singh, who scored a fifty on his MI debut against Delhi, and Krunal Pandya seem to be in good touch, but all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Ben Cutting need to find form at the earliest. Both Hardik and Cutting are capable of single-handedly altering the course of a game and just need one big performance to rediscover their touch.

Key player

Kieron Pollard looked in good touch, smashing two boundaries and a six during his quickfire 21 against Delhi. As a result, the powerful Trinidadian became just the second player from MI to reach 3000 runs for the franchise and he will want to build on that against Bangalore – a side he relishes facing. Pollard averages 39 against RCB, which is the fourth best by a batsman with a minimum of 10 innings against Bangalore.  

From the RCB dugout

Following a dispiriting display that saw Bangalore being bundled out for just 70 against Chennai Super Kings, the Royal Challengers need big performances against Mumbai on Thursday to vanquish the memories of their season opener. Even though they have a batting lineup featuring Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Shimron Hetmyer and Moeen Ali; RCB have failed to click. They did beat Mumbai at home in IPL 2018 though and will be eager to win again. How their bowlers fare will also be crucial to their cause since they don’t boast the most experienced bowling department, to say the least.

Key player

Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli needs to lead by example and show his team how it’s done. Kohli didn’t enjoy a very successful IPL last year and began this season poorly. He needs to come good though since he’s at the top of the order and will set the tone for the host team’s innings. Mumbai’s bowlers will, undoubtedly, be wary of the Indian skipper and will certainly have their plans in place to remove him from the crease without much consternation.