Jasprit Bumrah
Defending champions Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore, in the race to seal playoffs berth, are set to lock horns in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. Currently tied on 14 points in the table, both the IPL giants will be battling for supremacy to consolidate their position at the top.
While MI are currently sitting first in the points table, RCB are second by the narrowest of margins. Both teams are equipped with several match-winners who are in prolific form lately.
Both the sides may be heading into the clash after suffering defeats in their last matches but a nail-biting contest seems to be on the cards. In the previous encounter between these two sides, fans had witnessed a dramatic Super Over where the Virat Kohli-AB de Villiers duo sailed RCB past the finishing line.
As far as batting is concerned, both sides have the firepower. Despite Rohit Sharma's absence from recent games, MI has managed to put up a strong batting performance in their last two outings.
Quinton de Kock has been impressive with the bat along with delivering with his wicketkeeping gloves. The southpaw has scored 374 runs at an average of 42 so far. All eyes will be on Suryakumar Yadav, especially after his omission from India's squad for Australia tour. The right-hander has put up 283 runs in 10 innings at an impressive strike-rate of 149.
Along with a strong top-order, the MI artillery has also got two prolific finishers- Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard. Hardik, in his previous game, had hammered 60 off only 21 balls against Rajasthan Royals.
Talking about RCB's batting stalwarts, an in-form Virat Kohli is expected to lead his side from the front. Moreover, his batting record against MI has also been impressive. He has aggregated 628 runs against the defending champions.
In the on-going season, Kohli has 415 runs at an average of 59.28. The RCB skipper will be assisted by his trusted companion- AB de Villiers. The right-hander has amassed 324 runs this year including four half-centuries.
Both the sides have got robust bowling unit as well. Mohammed Siraj, after registering 3/8 against Kolkata Knight Riders, will be blazing to deliver yet again. Talking about MI, their pace battery will be led by the Jasprit Bumrah-Trent Boult pair.
While Bumrah has scalped 17 wickets so far, Boult has 16 plucks under his belt. Two spinners- Yuzvendra Chahal and Rahul Chahar- have also been delivering this season. Both are in the list of leading wicket-takers of this IPL edition.
Dream 11 playing XI: Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav, AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
