Rohit Sharma vs Virat Kohli - is as much a Friday blockbuster can offer in the times of lockdowns and OTTs.

Beyond the marketing gimmicks and fan-club pleasing scheduling though, comes a highly valued cricket match between two teams - one that aims to strengthen its legacy and the other that wishes to halt it.

The journey of Mumbai Indians though has come to a point where there are more ghosts to fear in the Indian Premier League opener than in the final. Several of their players have laughed off the thought of what ails them in the first stop and suggest that the winless run since 2012 is beyond their understanding. Online Cricket Id What Mumbai Indians would be out to fix in the tournament opener, is what Royal Challengers Bangalore would be doing with respect to their fortunes in the competition: try to figure out what is going wrong!

While the defending champions have retained their core unit, RCB spent big bucks at the 2021 auction to acquire the services of Glenn Maxwell and Kyle Jamieson to strengthen them further. Yet, much like most of the seasons, where they seemed to have assembled a strong squad, the winning formula is yet to be discovered.

Mumbai Indians’ second-best win percentage is against RCB (among all teams against whom they have played more than six matches), and yet despite their dominance, Virat Kohli’s side managed to run them close twice last year and even become one of only three teams to beat MI’s full-strength XI.

A good reason for their dominance has come at the back of being able to control Kohli in recent years. The RCB skipper hasn’t managed to break free easily against the five-time champions and the challenge will get stiffer in Chennai, where his scoring rate has only been 111.49. AB de Villiers though enjoys his time in Chepauk, where he has scored 228 runs at a strike rate of 152. What’s to be expected out of their new recruit Maxwell remains unknown, not just for his unpredictability but also because he is yet to play at the venue.

Despite MI’s recent dominance in Chennai, their top-order hasn’t enjoyed a good run either. They can, however, rely more on their least appreciated front - the spin department. Krunal Pandya and Rahul Chahar have conceded runs at marginally over 4 every six balls. But much like RCB’s quest to find answers, MI too have reasons to wonder: in the vast pool of talent and ideas, is there enough to break the first-match jinx?

What to expect: Even as Chennai has traditionally played slow and helped the spinners, the tournament opener is the flattest pitch that is likely to be on offer this season. However, with neither team boasting of a top-class spin attack, mid-range scores could be on the cards.

When: Friday, April 9, 2021, 7:30 PM IST

Where: Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, Chennai

Team News:

Mumbai Indians: Quinton de Kock has taken a bubble to bubble transfer from South Africa, and as a result, is likely to be available for the opening fixture. Mumbai Indians could be tempted to break away from their set format and play an additional spinner, especially given Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers’ ailings against leggies.

Probable XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Piyush Chawla/Jayant Yadav, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Devdutt Padikkal has resumed training and could be available for the opening match. Kane Richardson and Adam Zampa are unlikely to be available for selection. The number five slot could be up for grabs for one of the three uncapped Indian players. Shahbaz Nadeem could also be in contention.

Probable XI: Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (c), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Mohammad Azharuddin/Rajat Patidar, Daniel Christian, Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Navdeep Saini, Mohammad Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal.

Did you know?

Royal Challengers Bangalore’s 37.04 percent success rate against Mumbai Indians is the second worst for them against any team. The worst is against Chennai Super Kings (34.62)

Barring Yuzvendra Chahal, none of the RCB spinners have played an IPL game in Chennai. The leggie's economy rate of 5.25, fairly higher than Mumbai’s spin duo of Krunal (4.00) and Chahar (4.38).

Mumbai Indians’ top order has a low scoring rate in Chennai. Ishan Kishan (90.32), Rohit Sharma (119.69) and Suryakumar Yadav (108.75) would look to better on that pace.

What they said:

"Having done well last year in such a competitive scenario and space, we're very confident that as a side, with a stronger squad this time around, we'll have another great season. Cricket Betting Tips  Just playing in set venues with four teams, I think that's going to nullify all the home advantage that every team used to have." - Virat Kohli, RCB skipper.