Royal Challengers Bangalore eye a winning start against a soaring Mumbai Indians

The wait is finally set to come to an end as the Royal Challengers Bangalore will kick off their IPL 2023 campaign with a swashbuckling weekend blockbuster against Mumbai Indians. With so much at stake and with a lot to talk about, this is going to be a collision of two juggernauts in the antiquity of IPL with completely contrasting objectives.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore finished their 2022 campaign with a defeat in the second eliminator, keeping them at bay from clinching a final berth. However, with new reinforcements and Faf du Plessis at the helm in Bengaluru, 2023 will present a new dawn for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The last time these two teams met, RCB had an easy outing with a comfortable 7-wicket win over the Indians, thanks to a fine show from Anuj Rawat who smashed a 47-ball 66, and Virat Kohli played the perfect foil with 48 runs to his name. Harshal Patel and Wanindu Hasaranga were elemental with the ball as the duo shared 4 wickets between them.

Mumbai Indians had one of those rare off-seasons where they were completely dominated by the other teams, securing just four wins from the 14 fixtures in IPL 2022. With Jofra Archer returning to the side, it would be a huge boost for MI as he can fill up the colossal void left back by Jasprit Bumrah. However, with Rohit Sharma at the wheel, you can expect the five-time champions to put up a stern test for the Challengers as both sides would be eyeing that opening victory of the season.

Venue Watch:

There have been a total of four T20Is played at the stadium, two of which have been won batting first while two of them have been won by chasing. The average first innings score has been 166 while the average second innings score has been 144 which showcases a significant slump that will have to be braved. Going by the matches from the preceding year, the surface supports spin and with the onset of dew, the batters will have it slightly easier in the second half of the game.

Personal battles to watch out for:

Faf du Plessis vs Jofra Archer 

This would be a cracker of a match-up as two stalwarts of the sport would be duking it out against each other. Faf du Plessis is deemed as one of the finest batters to have graced the IPL while Jofra Archer is one of the most intimidating bowlers to have played the sport. With Faf’s form vital to set the tone for RCB, Archer will be keen to put the home team skipper to test.

Virat Kohli vs Piyush Chawla

This is going to be a solid match-up between two experienced players in the shortest format of the game. Virat Kohli has looked in stellar touch since the start of this year and can be destructive when at his best, but MI will know his frailties against leg spin. Chawla is one of the most experienced names in the circuit, and the leggie will want to make things tough for Kohli.

Reece Topley vs Suryakumar Yadav

Reece Topley showcased his true class when India paid England a visit with an inclination towards angling the ball away from the right-hander. With the kind of shuffling that Suryakumar Yadav does in the crease, ideally a stringent showdown of discipline can create a few doubts in the mind of SKY. Hence, this can be a battle of the finest gentlemen in the yard for RCB's opening fixture at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Match details:

Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians

Venue: Chinnaswamy Stadium

Date: 2nd April, 2023

Time: 7:30 PM

Head-to-head:

Matches played: 30

RCB: 12

MI: 17

Squads:

Royal Challengers Bangalore:

Faf Du Plessis (C), Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammad Siraj, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik, Shahbaz Ahmed, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Akash Deep, Josh Hazlewood, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Suyash Prabhudessai, Karn Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, David Willey, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Sonu Yadav, Michael Bracewell

Mumbai Indians:

Rohit Sharma (C), Sandeep Warrier, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Dewald Brevis, Tilak Varma, Jofra Archer, Tim David, Mohd Arshad Khan, Ramandeep Singh, Hrithik Shokeen, Arjun Tendulkar, Tristan Stubbs, Kumar Kartikeya, Jason Behrendorff, Akash Madhwal, Cameron Green, Jhye Richardson, Piyush Chawla, Duan Jansen, Vishnu Vinod, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera, Raghav Goyal