🏏IPL 2024:Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai-14th Match🏏

🏏IPL 2024:Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai-14th Match🏏

Credit:WildestDreams

It will be the first home game for MI this season, as they will be playing at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The 5-time champions have yet to win a match in the ongoing league. 

While they have been competitive in both matches, the win has seemed to be reaching out of their hands. On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals have had a good tournament till now.

The inaugural champions have convincingly won both of their matches. 

Against LSG, they scored 193 runs and won by 20 runs. Against DC, they achieved a 12-run win.

 While MI is yet to play a home game, RR is yet to play a game outside their home. 

It will be their first match away from home. Since 2018, RR has been one of the fewest teams to have a better record than MI. 

They would be hoping to continue the same come the game against MI at Wankhede Stadium. 

Both teams have some of the best players in the world. 

While RR has the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Nandre Burger, Trent Boult, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Yuzvendra Chahal in their lineup, MI features the likes of Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Tim David, Jasprit Bumrah, Gerland Coetzee, and many other talented players in their lineup. That promises to be a great match between the two sides. 

Tags Credit: Sutapasima

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In IPL 2024, both MI and RR will play their third match on April 1. Their campaigns have had differing starts: RR secured victories against Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals, while MI faced setbacks. MI narrowly lost their opener to Gujarat Titans by six runs. In their second match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, MI conceded an IPL-record 277 runs and lost by 31 runs, adding to their struggles. Despite this, MI holds a favourable head-to-head record against RR, especially at the Wankhede Stadium, making them the favourites.

MI vs RR  Match Head to Head

In their IPL history spanning 28 matches, Mumbai Indians have emerged victorious in 15 encounters against Rajasthan Royals, while Rajasthan has won 12 matches. One match between the two teams ended in a tie. Mumbai's highest total against RR stands at 214, while Rajasthan's highest score against MI is 212:

Pitch Report

The match is set to take place at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai which is one of the flattest wickets in the world. It is good for batting due to the nature of the wicket and small boundaries. Pacers do get some early swing and the spinners might get some turn. But the batters would be able to counter it and dominate the proceedings. Chasing might be the best option, considering the dew factor.

What to expect: Five of the seven matches at the Wankhede last year were won by the chasing side, effectively forcing the captain to win the toss to bowl first. It should be a high-scoring game, and the venue has seen some big run-chases. It can't be any different on Monday night.

A telling piece of statistic that aptly captures Hardik Pandya's widely debated captaincy is the frequency of him opening the bowling. In 92 IPL games prior to assuming the leadership role, he opened the attack just six times. Since taking over the reins in 2022, he has opened the bowling on 17 occasions out of 33 matches, including in the first two games of IPL 2024.

This oddity is underscored by a recent decision of calling upon Jasprit Bumrah for his second over in 13th of Sunrisers Hyderabad's innings. It was in this game that Mumbai Indians conceded the highest IPL total of 277 for 3. It would seem that the team's bowling strategy is going haystack despite IPL veteran like Lasith Malinga among the support staff. For the record, MI have the worst economy rate among the 10 teams since the start of IPL 2023.

Amidst the questionable bowling changes, certain batting calls have also raised eyebrows. For instance, the choice to shield Tim David by Tilak Varma from facing Rashid Khan in the first match seemed unconventional, much like Pandya's decision to bat at No. 7 in the same game, ostensibly to evade facing Rashid Khan, a notion suggested by Irfan Pathan, Pandya's Baroda mate.

No wonder then that Mumbai are without a win from two games but then MI losing initial games is nothing new. 

They have been here and done that. They have the wherewithal to bounce back, more so when they are playing four games on the bounce at home. But they certainly need to review their strategies - bowling in particular -- when they take on Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede on Monday night.

The visitors have had a blazing start to the season with all wings of the side working. The captaincy of Sanju Samson has been very sagacious while the team's investment on Riyan Parag is paying off. The R Ashwin-Yuzvendra Chahal combination has started well while Avesh Khan and Sandeep Sharma, the two Indian pacers, have done well too. Trent Boult, well, has been Trent Boult.

The only concern for the Royals may be the form of Jos Buttler who, interestingly, got five ducks last year, the most for anyone in a single edition, and managed only scores of 11(9) and 11(16) in this season so far. Given his quality and experience, the team management will persist with the English captain for now but at some stage during the season, they could unleash Tom Kohler-Cadmore.

Team Watch

Mumbai Indians

Injury and availability: Barring Suryakumar Yadav, who is undergoing rehab at the NCA, all other players are available.

Tactics and Match-ups: MI will want to use Jasprit Bumrah in the PowerPlay for early breakthroughs and it is unlikely there will be too many changes to the XI.

Probable XI: Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Tim David, Gerald Coetzee, Shams Mulani, Piyush Chawla, Jasprit Bumrah, Kwena Maphaka

Rajasthan Royals

Injury and availability: There is no reported injury and all players available.

Probable XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sandeep Sharma, Avesh Khan.

Tactics and match-ups: It's unlikely the Royals will tamper with their winning formula. They would be expected to attack Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan through Trent Boult, who is known to provide early breakthroughs.

Did you know?

- Of all the venues that hosted at least five matches in IPL 2023, Wankhede had the joint-highest average first-innings score (198), alongside Mohali.

- After bagging the Orange Cap in RR's runners-up finish in 2022, Buttler recorded five ducks last year, the most for anyone in a single edition, and has registered scores of 11(9) and 11(16) in his two IPL 2024 outings so far.

- Hardik's tenure as MI's captain has started with back-to-back defeats, and he now returns to Wankhede where he has played 35 out of his 125 IPL matches.

What they said:

"Everyone is different, Rohit has a different way of leading the side, Hardik has a different way. As we all know, Hardik is one of the successful captains coming from GT where they made two finals in two years." - Piyush Chawla

"I think this tournament and T20 cricket is all about momentum. You always want to win every game, but it is about playing good cricket and getting on a roll. We've had a good start to the season equally. Last year we had a good start to the tournament and things didn't quite go the way we wanted." - Trent Boult

Mumbai vs Rajasthan Key Player Battles 

Jos Buttler vs Mumbai’s bowlers 

Jos Buttler has struggled against Jasprit Bumrah, averaging 28.0 and striking at 96.6. The star batter has 56 runs in 58 balls against the Mumbai bowler. The Rajasthan opener averages 32.00 and strikes at 133.3 and has been disMumbaissed once by Chawla. The right-handed batter has 55 runs in 29 balls at an SR of 189.7 getting disMumbaissed twice against Hardik Pandya. Buttler has a great record as a batter against Mumbai in the league. 

Yuzvendra Chahal vs Mumbai’s batters 

Yuzvendra Chahal has conceded just 39 runs in 38 balls against Rohit Sharma disMumbaissing him in one instance. The leg spinner has scalped Ishan Kishan thrice. The star spinner, however, has been smashed by Tilak Varma who has 45 runs in 23 balls including a single disMumbaissal. Against Aiden Markram, the Indian spinner has been brilliant, conceding 58 runs in 62 balls including three disMumbaissals.

Rohit Sharma vs Rajasthan’s bowlers 

Against Trent Boult, Rohit Sharma has struggled in the ITL, scoring 17 runs in as many balls getting disMumbaissed once in the process. Against Sandeep Sharma, Rohit scored 38 runs in 44 balls including five disMumbaissals. Against Yuzvendra Chahal, he has fared reasonably well, scoring 39 runs in 38 balls and getting disMumbaissed only once at an average of 39.00. The star batter does not have a good record against Ravichandran Ashwin, scoring 105 runs in 117 balls and getting disMumbaissed thrice in the process. 

Jasprit Bumrah vs Rajasthan’s batters 

Jos Buttler has struggled against Jasprit Bumrah, averaging 28.0 and striking at 96.6. The star batter has 56 runs in 58 balls against the Mumbai bowler. The right-arm pacer has dismissed Sanju Samson in two instances after conceding 49 runs in 48 balls. While he has conceded just 9 runs in 14 balls against Shimron Hetmyer, he has disMumbaissed the West Indian in three instances. The right-arm pacer has also disMumbaissed Jaiswal once in the league.