Preview: Virat Kohli Up Against Jasprit Bumrah's Pace As Royal Challengers Bangalore Face Mumbai Indians
The big sub-plot of the RCB vs MI clash will be Virat Kohli taking guard against Jasprit Bumrah.
Highlights
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Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah will face each other in the clash of titan
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Bumrah's shoulder injury scare was a cause of concern
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Both teams will be eager to register their first win of the IPL
Premier Indian cricketers Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah will face each other in the clash of the titans as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) host Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday. The savouring sub-plot of contest is the world's best ODI batsman Virat Kohli taking guard against the world's best ODI bowler Jasprit Bumrah in a format notorious for its unpredictability.
Bumrah's shoulder injury scare was a cause of concern for the Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians but India's premier pacer seems to have recovered in time to be back in the fold.
Both teams will be eager to register their first win of the IPL and the onus will be on Kohli and Rohit, both of who failed with the bat in their respective opening matches.
Mumbai Indians will also be boosted by the availability of Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga.
The Mumbai franchise will also heave a sigh of relief as Bumrah joined practice Wednesday during which he ran for 20 minutes and participated in catching drills. He also took to social media to state that he was "ready and roaring."
Bumrah suffered the shoulder injury after landing awkwardly while fielding during Sunday's contest against Delhi Capitals.
Yuvraj Singh will also be in focus after the 37-year-old started the season on a classy note hitting a sublime half-century against Delhi Capitals.
Mitchell McClenaghan will be eager to face the challenge of bowling to Kohli, AB De Villers and Shimron Hetmyer.
RCB will expect its batsmen to put up a formidable total after they were bundled out for a paltry 70 in 17.1 overs against the Chennai Super Kings in the opening match of the season.
With power-hitters like Kohli, AB de Villiers and Shimron Hetmyer in the team, that should not be an uphill task.
Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal will again be the key man in the RCB bowling attack and will need the support of the other bowlers.
Squads:
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (capt), Quinton de Kock (wk), Jason Behrendorff, Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul Chahar, Ben Cutting, Pankaj Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan, Siddhesh Lad, Evin Lewis, Lasith Malinga, Mayank Markande, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Anukul Roy, Rasikh Salam, Yuvraj Singh, Anmolpreet Singh, Barinder Sran, Aditya Tare, Suryakumar Yadav, Jayant Yadav.
Royal Challenegers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (capt), AB de Villiers, Colin de Grandhomme, Kulwant Khejroliya, Moeen Ali, Md. Siraj, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Parthiv Patel (wk), Navdeep Saini, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Washington Sundar, Pawan Negi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Marcus Stoinis, Shivam Dube, Prayas Ray Barman, Shimron Hetmyer, Akshdeep Nath, Himmat Singh, Milind Kumar, Heinrich Klaasen, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Devdutt Padikkal.
Match starts at 8pm IST.
(With PTI inputs)
Virat Kohli
Jasprit Bumrah
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Mumbai Indians