🏏IPL 2023: Match 5 - MI vs RCB on 02/04/23 at 7:30 PM IST 🏏

🏏IPL 2023: Match 5 - MI vs RCB at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on 02/04/23 at 7:30 PM IST 🏏

Tag and Logo credit goes to Sandy aka Sevenstreaks

RCB vs Mumbai Indians - key players missing, not many Impact Player options for teams

RCB have had a good run of late but don't have a great record at home; Mumbai would hope to take the next step in their rebuilding process

Royal Challengers Bangalore's quest for their maiden IPL title is still on but they have been pretty consistent of late, making the playoffs in each of the last three seasons. This run has also coincided with them not playing at their home ground, M Chinnaswamy Stadium - theirs is one of the poorest home records for an IPL team. This season, they play six of their first eight games in Bengaluru, which could dictate how their campaign goes.

Virat Kohli's return to form in international cricket is a big plus for them, but they need Dinesh Karthik to repeat his heroics from last year too.

Mumbai Indians, their opponents, are the most successful IPL team with five titles but they have been in a rebuilding phase since the 2022 mega auction. They finished at the bottom of the points table last season, with four wins and ten losses. This time, they have fortified their batting by signing Cameron Green. However, their dream of Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer bowling in tandem will have to wait another season to become reality.

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma will be keen to make an impact with the bat. The last time he averaged over 30 in an IPL season was in 2016.

PS: Don't forget to send your predictions for Match 5

Deadline for toss prediction: 7:00PM IST

Deadline for rest of the predictions: 7:30PM IST

Make sure you hit "Submit prediction" button for initial predictions and "Update Prediction" button after making any subsequent changes to register your predictions.

Pitch Report:

The pitch at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium is expected to be a paradise for the batters, considering the flat surface and the smaller dimension of the ground. The spinners are expected to get some assistance in the middle overs. The average first-innings score at the venue is 170 and the chasing teams hold a superior winning percentage.

Weather Report:

The weather at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium is expected to be clear on April 2. Though the sky may be overcast, there is no chance of rain being a spoilsport during the IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians. The wind speed will be around 20-30 km/h. The temperature could hover around 20 degrees Celsius to 35 degrees Celsius, while the humidity is anticipated to be around 45-70 percent.

Thank you Raji for the thread and for tagging me.

Toss and Impact Player strategy

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Royal Challengers don't have many exciting options on the bench to make full use of the Impact Player rule. In fact, they can go with the same XI irrespective of whether they are batting or bowling first.

Probable XI: 1 Faf du Plessis (capt), 2 Virat Kohli, 3 Mahipal Lomror, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Michael Bracewell, 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Shahbaz Ahmed, 8 Harshal Patel, 9 Akash Deep, 10 Reece Topley, 11 Mohammed Siraj

If they are batting first and need an extra batter at any stage, Suyash Prabhudessai can come in as Impact Player. Else they can bring in Siddarth Kaul or Karn Sharma in the second innings. If they are bowling first, Prabhudessai could come in during the chase.

Mumbai Indians

Mumbai are not placed any better in terms of Impact Player options. Left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya is probably their best option, and could replace Tilak Varma when they are bowling.

Probable bat-first XI: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Tim David, 6 Cameron Green, 7 Ramandeep Singh, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Hrithik Shokeen, 10 Sandeep Warrier, 11 Jason Behrendorff

If they are bowling first, Kartikeya starts; Varma replaces him in the second innings.

Probable bowl-first XI: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Tim David, 5 Cameron Green, 6 Ramandeep Singh, 7 Jofra Archer, 8 Hrithik Shokeen, 9 Sandeep Warrier, 10 Jason Behrendorff, 11 Kumar Kartikeya

Go Mumbai Indians.....🥳

Stats that matter - tie Kohli up with spin

• During the recent T20I series against New Zealand, Ishan Kishan found it difficult to get going against Michael Bracewell, falling to him twice in 13 balls for just seven runs.
• Harshal Patel has dismissed Rohit three times in 23 balls while conceding only 27 runs.
• Since the start of 2022, Kohli's T20 strike rate against spin is 119.75. Against pace, it's 137.35.

Btw...MI hasn't won an opening match since 2103. RCB may help break that curse. 😆

Originally posted by: tomnjerry2

Btw...MI hasn't won an opening match since 2103. RCB may help break that curse. 😆

Cheers..

Mumbai Indians have to lose today for Shagun. 😆