The State of Play
Two sides that have struggled in the early going in IPL 2024 meet tomorrow looking to kickstart their campaigns.
The Indians have one win from their first four matches while RCB have fared similarly with one win from five.
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Given they possess the best batter in the tournament in Virat Kohli, it does pose the question of where the Royal Challengers would be without him. The answer is most probably bottom of the pile.
Kohli’s excellence despite the mediocrity around him was demonstrated perfectly in their last outing. The former India captain hit a magnificent 113 not out from 72 balls but his side still lost to the Rajasthan Royals by six wickets.
Kohli has 316 runs in the tournament but the other big-name players have struggled. Captain Faf du Plessis has 109, Cameron Green 68 and Glenn Maxwell just 32.
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Not that Kohli needs any added inspiration but tomorrow’s venue – the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai – was the scene of his 50th ODI ton in the World Cup semi-final five months ago.
If RCB are to turn it around, they must claim maximum points against a Mumbai side who at least come into the contest having won their last game – a convincing 29-run defeat of the Delhi Capitals.
All is still not well with the Indians, though. Openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan have done their bit but have received precious little back up, although Tim David and Romario Shepherd did make decent contributions against the Capitals.
“the big cat crouches low, eyes fixed intensely on its unsuspecting prey. Every muscle tenses, poised for the imminent chase.”
That’s probably how David Attenborough would describe the shot and he wouldn’t be wrong! 😬#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #IPL2024 @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/1rUoVPR0Hs
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) April 10, 2024
And captain Hardik Pandya continues to struggle to win over impatient supporters. Getting a tick in the win column on Sunday can only have helped, however.
He said: “I would like to have this feeling [of being winning captain[] more often than not. There’s been a lot of hard work, [it has been] hard to clear our minds, and everything clicked. We will be making some tactical changes here and there but more often than not this will be our XI. Everyone knows we lost three games but the belief and backing was there, everyone believes we needed just one win and this was the start.”
The world’s number one T20 batter – according to the rankings at least – Suryakumar Yadav’s return against Delhi lasted just two balls and he will hope to do better second time round.
Expected line-ups
Mumbai Indians: Sharma, Kishan (wk), Yadav, Pandya (c), Varma, David, Shepherd, Nabi, Coetzee, Khawla, Bumrah
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Kohli, Du Plessis (c), Maxwell, Chauhan, Green, Patidar, Karthik (wk), Topley, Dagar, Siraj, Dayal
Into the next game we go, with a smile 💙#MumbaiMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians | @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/Wir8kLCqvn
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 9, 2024
How to watch
Sky have the rights to show the IPL to UK viewers in 2024 and will broadcast every game live. Thursday’s match will be shown on Sky Sports Cricket from 2.50pm BST.
In India, the games can be streamed on the Jio Cinema app and website. They are also available across the Star Sports Network.
Prediction
As good as he is, Kohli has to fail some time and with Jasprit Bumrah in their ranks, and assuming Indians skipper Pandya unleashes him when he should, then that could prove the crucial match-up.
The home side’s bowling line-up looks strong so we are going for them to edge it.
