IPL 2018: Will Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers further spoil Mumbai Indians' hopes?

Mumbai: Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians’ top priority on Tuesday would be to end their winless jinx in the Indian Premier League (IPL), when they host an equally-struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) here at the Wankhede Stadium.

The defending champions’ performance has been a forgettable one so far in the IPL, having lost their opening matches to Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Daredevils.

Injury worries seem to continue for the Men in Blue as Australia’s Pat Cummins has become the latest in the long list of players to be ruled out of the tournament.

The Aussie has been replaced by New Zealand’s Adam Milne, who in fact played for RCB last season.

However, despite the past struggles, MI hold the edge over RCB with 15 wins out of the 23 matches played between them, with Virat Kohli’s men winning only eight games.

This includes their meeting during the now-defunct Champions League final in 2011, which MI went on to win by 31 runs.

However, the defending IPL champions will look to forget the past and move ahead as they eye some turnaround.

The hosts will have to be wary of RCB’s power-packed batting lineup; A lineup which consists the likes of Brendon McCullum, Virat Kohli, Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers.

Even in a match as recent as Sunday, Kohli had set up the stage for RCB to chase down Rajasthan Royals’ total of 218, but then fell short by 19 runs as wickets to hand their second defeat.

To sum it up, the top and middle-order should be a concern for MI bowlers, which consists the likes of Mustafizur Rahman, Hardik Pandya among a few others.

Kiwi cricketers Corey Anderson and Tim Southee too face their former teams, and the duo would be well aware of MI’s strategic plans.

Meanwhile, captain Rohit Sharma was expected to lead the MI side from the front, and it seems like he has continued to struggle with form ending up with scores of 15, 11 and 18.

Overall, this match comes at an important time for both the teams, and a loss for either of them would raise questions of a top-four finish this season.

Squads:

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma(captain), Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Mustafizur Rahman, Suryakumar Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Rahul Chahar, Evin Lewis, Saurabh Tiwary, Ben Cutting, Pradeep Sangwan, Jean-Paul Duminy, Tajinder Singh, Sharad Lumba, Siddhesh Lad, Aditya Tare, Mayank Markande, Akila Dhananjaya, Anukul Roy, Mohsin Khan, MD Nidheesh, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli(captain), Quinton de Kock(wicket-keeper), Brendon McCullum, AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Chris Woakes, Washington Sundar, Kulwant Khejroliya, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Colin de Grandhomme, Moeen Ali, Manan Vohra, Aniket Choudhary, Navdeep Saini, Murugan Ashwin, Pawan Negi, Mohammed Siraj, Corey Anderson, Parthiv Patel, Aniruddha Joshi, Pavan Deshpande, Tim Southee.

Head to Head record in IPL

Matches played: 21

Mumbai Indians: 13 wins

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 8 wins

When is the match?

The match is scheduled to start at 8 pm IST on Tuesday (April 17)

Where is the match?

The match will take place at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai

Live telecast and timings:

With Star India now acquiring the media rights from Sony Pictures Network India for the upcoming season, the matches will be telecast on various Star Sports channels.

Live streaming:

The matches can be viewed live on Hotstar.com or on the Hotstar app.