It's Virat Kohli versus Rohit Sharma. It's Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) versus Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 10th match of the Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Monday.
MI come into this contest on the back of a comfortable win against Kolkata Knight Riders. While skipper Rohit Sharma led from the front, hitting a brisk 80, Suryakumar Yadav scored an attractive 47. The MI pace battery of Jasprit Bumrah, James Pattinson and Trent Boult looked well-oiled too.
The form that Suryakumar Yadav has shown so far is impressive. It looks like he is close to a big score himself and is someone to watch out for. The selection of Saurabh Tiwari continues to be a bit strange, considering Ishan Kishan is on the bench, but he has been okay in the matches he played as well.
The big-hitting of the middle-order has not really been used so far. Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, and Krunal Pandya are all capable of getting big-runs in the middle or bowling as needed. Hardik has not been bowling in IPL 2020 but we think that could be just precautionary because of his injury.
Perhaps most importantly, Jasprit Bumrah was back to his best in the previous match. He, Trent Boult, and James Pattinson form a very dangerous bowling attack. Rahul Chahar, Kieron Pollard, and Krunal Pandya provide 6 international quality bowling choices even without turning to Hardik Pandya.
RCB had won their opening game of the season against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), but in their second match, they were done in by a stunning KL Rahul hundred. The success of Kings XI Punjab's spin-bowling duo of Ravi Bishnoi and Murugan Ashwin in addition to some fine pace-bowling display from Mohammad Shami and Sheldon Cottrell made matters worse for RCB.
Devdutt Padikkal had a good start to his IPL career but whether he is able to sustain that performance remains to be seen. Josh Philippe comes with a big reputation but is unproven in spin-friendly conditions. His shot against Mohammad Shami in the previous match does not inspire much confidence. Also, the complete lack of any effect that Dale Steyn has had so far is surely the last straw! RCb must bring in Chris Morris to address those concerns.
In fact, the bowling lineup for RCb is looking quite weak. Umesh Yadav has been expensive and ineffective in the powerplay, Shivam Dube is not really a bowling all-rounder (even though he is being used as one), and Dale Steyn is a spent force.
Yuzvendra Chahal and to some extent Navdeep Saini are the only two bowlers that are seen as threats by the opposition.
Expect changes in this lineup for the upcoming match.
Weather Forecast
Another hot day in Dubai. A high of 37 degrees Celsius during the day which will see a drop to 27 degrees Celsius during the night bringing some relief.
It's going to be quite humid.
Pitch Report
The track at the Dubai International Stadium has been even for both batsmen and bowlers. However, chasing has not been fruitful in the four matches at this
venue this year. Dubai has served slower batting surfaces than at Abu Dhabi and so the spinners could be more of a threat as we continue to play here. The
batsmen can still get plenty of runs after spending a bit of time in the centre, though. We have seen new batsmen struggle to smash big-hits immediately,
possibly because of the large boundaries and the slow pitch. A score of around 170-180 should be seen as par for the surface.
Toss Prediction
It was at their venue where KXIP smashed 206/3 with KL Rahul hitting season's first century. In the following match at the venue, DC scored 175/3. Both the
times, teams that won the toss, opted to field first and lost. You can't predict the toss but team winning the toss will most probably bat first due to the
slow nature of the pitch. Chasing hasn't been that easy on this ground.
Stats and Facts
Head to head: Matches Played: 27
Mumbai Indians: 18
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 9
Mumbai has dominated the tie with Bangalore in the recent past, winning four of the last five matches.
This will be Kohli's 150th T20 match as captain. He has so far captained the Royal Challengers 112 times, and the Indian team 37 times.
Quinton de Kock has a fine record against the Royal Challengers, hitting 306 runs in six innings at an average of 51 and strike rate of 157.73.
In four games played at this venue this season, teams have opted to chase and have lost on all four occasions.
Approaching Milestones:
Rohit Sharma needs 10 runs to complete 5000 IPL runs. He is also a six away from 150 IPL sixes for MI.
Virat Kohli needs 73 runs to complete 5500 IPL runs and requires 10 sixes to complete 200 IPL sixes.
AB de Villiers needs 26 runs to complete 4500 IPL runs.
Suryakumar Yadav needs 2 sixes to complete 50 IPL sixes.
Likely XIs:
Mumbai Indians: Quinton de Kock (wk), Rohit Sharma (capt), Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, James
Pattinson/Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Aaron Finch, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (capt), AB de Villiers, Josh Philippe (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Dale Steyn/Chris Morris/Isuru Udana, Umesh Yadav/Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini
Players to Watch Out For:
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Saurabh Tiwary, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Aaron Finch, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Yuzvendra Chahal
Match Odds:
Mumbai Indians: 1.72
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 2.10
SantaBanta's Winner Prediction: Mumbai Indians
IPL 2020 Winner Live Odds
Mumbai Indians - 4.5
Delhi Capitals - 5.5
Rajasthan Royals - 6.5
Royal Challengers Bangalore - 6.5
Kolkata Knight Riders - 7
Chennai Super Kings - 8.5
Kings XI Punjab - 10
Sunrisers Hyderabad - 11
Match Venue: Dubai Cricket Stadium, Dubai, UAE
Time: 7.30 PM IST
TV: Star Sports Network
Live Streaming: Disney+ Hotstar VIP
