The Cricketer takes a look at the next fixture in the 2022 Indian Premier League season
Royal Challengers Bangalore take on Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.
The game will be played on Saturday, April 9. The first ball will be bowled at 7.30pm local time (3pm GMT).
The game will be held at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.
Royal Challengers Bangalore come into the game in good form, having won their last two games convincingly.
They lost their first game of the season against Punjab Kings but still managed to rack up 205 for 2 and have since registered successful chases of 128 and 169 against Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals.
RCB’s only concern will be death bowling, as both Rajasthan and Punjab have scored over 50 in the last five overs against them.
Mumbai Indians have had a torrid start to the IPL and remain winless after three games.
They have batted reasonably well, posting scores of 177 for 5, 170 for 8 and 161 for 4, but they have struggled to contain batters. Pat Cummins tore them apart in their last game, hitting 56* off 15 balls for KKR.
Jasprit Bumrah in full flight (Rodger Bosch/Getty Images)
Batting has been a team effort from RCB so far, as only one batter has passed fifty but seven have made a score of over 20. Captain Faf Du Plessis made a classy 88 with seven sixes against Punjab Kings and will be the key wicket for Mumbai.
Out-of-form Virat Kohli will have a point to prove and has the potential to win the game on his own.
Despite Mumbai’s form, Jasprit Bumrah remains the best white-ball quick in the IPL. He has gone wicketless twice so far but took 3 for 17 against Rajasthan including a searing yorker to get Jos Buttler. If anyone can turn around Mumbai’s fortunes, it will be Bumrah.
Matches played: 31
Royal Challengers Bangalore wins: 12
Mumbai Indians wins: 19
It will be another hot day in Pune with temperatures around 40° in the day. It should cloud over slightly in the afternoon and drop to 30° for the first ball.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj, Faf du Plessis, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat, Shahbaz Ahamad, Akash Deep, Josh Hazlewood, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Sherfane Rutherford, Jason Behrendorff, Suyash Prabhudessai, Chama Milind, Aneeshwar Gautam, Karn Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, Luvnith Sisodia (injury replacement: Rajat Patidar), David Willey
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Ishan Kishan, Dewald Brevis, Basil Thampi, Murugan Ashwin, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, N Tilak Varma, Sanjay Yadav, Jofra Archer, Daniel Sams, Tymal Mills, Tim David, Riley Meredith, Mohammad Arshad Khan, Anmolpreet Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Rahul Buddhi, Hrithik Shokeen, Arjun Tendulkar, Aryan Juyal, Fabian Allen
Faf du Plessis (Asif Hassan/AFP/Images)
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf Du Plessis, Anuj Rawat, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, Sherfane Rutherford, David Willey, Wanindu Harasanga, Shahbaz Ahmed, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep
Mumbai Indians: Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Kieron Pollard, Daniel Sams, Tymal Mills, Murugan Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Basil Thampi
Both Sky Bet and Bet365 have RCB as 4/5 favourites, with even odds on a Mumbai win.
Given the form and Virat Kohli’s need to prove he is back in form, everything points towards a win for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
In the UK, Sky Sports have exclusive rights to this year's tournament, with matches available on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket.
Fans in India can watch all of the action on Star Sports.
Elsewhere in the world, viewers in Australia can watch the IPL on Fox Sports while in New Zealand, Sky Sport will provide coverage.
Willow TV and Flow Sports will broadcast the tournament in the United States and the Caribbean, respectively.
Fans in MENA can catch the action on beIN Sports while in South Africa, SuperSport have the rights.
The IPL can also be streamed on Disney+ and Hotstar in certain areas.
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