RCB look to build on from maiden win and stay alive
Royal Challengers Bangalore finally have a victory to show for all their efforts this season, but are they being too reliant on Kohli, de Villiers and Chahal?
The Preview by Vishal Dikshit in Mumbai
14-Apr-2019
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Royal Challengers Bangalore finally have a victory to show for all their efforts this season. They chased down 174 in the last over against Kings XI Punjab in Mohali on Saturday night, and have quickly flown to Mumbai for their next clash. The question that faces them next is - can they win without always relying on Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Yuzvendra Chahal? On Saturday, Kohli and de Villiers scored half-centuries, and Chahal was the only bowler to take two wickets.
In their seven matches so far, only Kohli and de Villiers have scored over 200 runs and Chahal is leading the wickets chart by a mile, having taken 11, Mohammed Siraj is next with six but a much higher economy rate of nearly 9.50 runs per over compared to Chahal's 7.07. So what happens against Mumbai Indians on Monday, or for the rest of Royal Challengers' campaign, if one of these top batsmen fails, or picks a niggle, and if Chahal has a bad day or two?
Mumbai, meanwhile, have started an IPL season well for a change. They are in the top four halfway through the tournament and shouldn't be worrying much after the loss to Rajasthan Royals on Saturday when they ended up turning into spectators during Jos Buttler's 43-ball 89 on a batting-friendly track. But their pace attack leaking too many runs will be a concern, along with the injury Alzarri Joseph picked up while fielding, and the catches they put down towards the end against Royals.
With a solid squad in the dugout, they only need to tighten a few loose ends to start winning again.
In the news
With Joseph out of the tournament after hurting his right shoulder while fielding at long-off against Royals, Lasith Malinga will be a straight swap back in the XI.
Previous meeting
In what is turning out to be a controversial IPL especially when it comes to no-balls, Mumbai and Royal Challengers were the first witnesses when Malinga overstepped in their first meeting this season, the umpire didn't spot it and Kohli was left fuming at the presentation. Mumbai won by six runs as Malinga defended 17 in the last over.
Likely XIs
Mumbai Indians: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Kieron Pollard, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Ishan Kishan, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Rahul Chahar, 9 Jason Behrendorff/Mitchell McClenaghan, 10, Jasprit Bumrah 11 Lasith Malinga
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Parthiv Patel (wk), 2 Virat Kohli (capt), 3 AB de Villiers, 4 Marcus Stoinis, 5 Moeen Ali, 6 Akshdeep Nath, 7 Pawan Negi, 8 Umesh Yadav, 9 Mohammed Siraj, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Navdeep Saini
Strategy punt
Stats that matter
Vishal Dikshit is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo