The M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru in a file photo.
Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) along with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Bharathi Cements will be inviting 60 jawans of Indian Army for each of the seven IPL games at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The KSCA issued a press release which stated that 20 tickets each will be sponsored by KSCA, RCB and Bharathi Cements for each of the seven home matches of the Virat Kohli-led franchise.
"Jawans are the pride of our nation. They are the sentinels of our liberty. The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) in collaboration with the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Bharathi Cements have taken the initiative to invite 60 Jawans to witness each of the seven IPL matches being played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium from March 28 to May 4," KSCA stated.
Coming on the back of heavy defeats, both RCB and Mumbai Indians (MI) will look to get their act together and log their first win of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 season at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Thursday.
Virat Kohli's RCB, who are yet to win the IPL and regularly draw a lot of flak for that, were bundled out for 70, the sixth-lowest score in IPL history, in their first game of the this year's league against Chennai Super Kings.
Against Mumbai Indians, who have the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mitchell McClenaghan and Ben Cutting, Kohli would know that his team will have to bat much better.
One positive aspect from their forgettable last match was the way wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal bowled, conceding just six runs from his four overs and taking a wicket.
Moeen Ali was good too and so was Haryana's Navdeep Saini.
Coming to the visitors, Mumbai were blown away by a Rishabh Pant blitzkrieg in their opening encounter. The dashing stumper-batsman smashed an unbeaten 27-ball 78 taking the Mumbai bowlers, including India teammate Bumrah, for a ride.
Skipper Rohit Sharma would hope his bowlers get their house in order ahead of the RCB game and treat the Delhi poor show as a one-off. Mumbai's batting, except veteran Yuvraj Singh (53), looked ordinary too.
Talking of sub-plots, the battle between Kohli and Bumrah would be one to watch out for, with both players being at the peak of their powers in recent times.
(With IANS inputs)
