Bangalore, Apr 11: Royal Challengers Bangalore will not just have to address Sachin Tendulkar's unsatiated hunger for runs and Kieron Pollard's blistering powerplay, but will also have to be wary of Lasith Malinga's seering yorkers when they take on Mumbai Indians in the IPL match here tomorrow.
Although Mumbai's bowling armory is trifle weak, they have a destructive bowler in Malinga who decimated Delhi Daredevil's batting might yesterday at the Ferozeshah Kotla.
The Lankan pace-bowling spearhead returned with inspiring figures of 5 for 13, which was instrumental in bowling out Virender Sehwag's outfit for a niggardly 95. Malinga's fiery, toe-crushing yorkers would be something that the Royal Challengers (RCB) think-tank, chaired by Anil Kumble, would have discussed in detail during the team meeting.
If Malinga's yorkers could be dealt with, RCB could look to score their second successive win in the fourth edition of the tournament here at the M Chinnaswamy stadium tomorrow.
They had defeated Kochi Tuskers Kerala by six wickets last weekend in their opening match.
And it is expected to be an interesting battle tomorrow between Sachin Tendulkar and pacer Zaheer Khan. They are good buddies and are fierce competitors, always striving to get on top of their opponents.
It will interesting to see how Zaheer, who has the uncanny ability to produce wickets when his team desperately needs a breakthrough, braces up against Tendulkar batting prowess.
We often see them plot the demise of an opponent batsman together, the iconic batsman sauntering across to the bowlers' run-up and having a quick work with the wily left-arm seamer. Wonder who will get the better of each other tomorrow.
Compared to Mumbai Indians, RCB have a balanced side with Zaheer, skipper Daniel Vettori and Dirk Nannes providing teeth and experience to the bowling.
AB de Villiers, who has been in sublime form since the World Cup, Tillakaratne Dilshan, a maverick who can turn the match on its head when in the mood, Virat Kohli, arguably one of the most talented young batsmen in world cricket, Saurabh Tiwary and young Mayank Agarwal lend depth to RCB's batting.
Tendulkar's wicket is one which RCB would want to get early in the innings. If the batting maestro drops anchor, they could well expect a late innings blizzard from the blades of Kieron Pollard. And if that happens, the RCB fans, already disillusioned that the local stars were overlooked for outside players, will not have much to cheer about.
Teams (From):
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Daniel Vettori (capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Saurabh Tiwary, Dirk Nannes, Abhimanyu Mithun, Cheteswar Pujara, C M Gautam, Asad Pathan, Johan van der Wath, Charl Langeveldt, Joanthan Vandiar, Abrar Kazi.
Mumbai Indians: Sachin Tendulkar (capt), Davy Jacobs, Ambati Rayudu, Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh, Moises Henriques, James Franklin, Munaf Patel, Lasith Malinga, Ali Murtaza, Aiden Blizzard, Andrew Symonds, Abu Nechim, Dhawal Kulkarni, Aditya Tare. PTI
