Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals (MI vs RR) IPL 2024 The match is Mumbai Indians’ first home match and Rajasthan Royals’ first away match. MI have lost both of their games so far, while the Royals have won both of them.
Date and place
The MI vs RR IPL 2024 match will be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday, April 1, starting at 7:30 pm IST. Mumbai Indians have won four of the last five matches against Rajasthan Royals. Mumbai are ahead 15-12 in head-to-head tally.
Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals Match Preview – IPL 2024, Match 14
Bombay Indians
Traditionally, Mumbai Indians began their campaign with a loss against the Gujarat Titans. They lost their second game against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The most runs in the IPL (525) were scored in the match. Mi responded to SRH’s total of 277 and scored 246 in the chase.
The losses came down to how captain Hardik Pandya led the team and used his strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah. There was talk of Hardik underusing Bumrah, who used himself in the opening overs.
Piyush Chawla is the only experienced spinner for Mumbai Indians. The absence of another good spinner who could have supported Chawla is another big disadvantage for MI.
Heading into this game, they may continue to miss Surtakumar Yadav, who is still recovering from the sports hernia surgery he recently had. The BCCI official reportedly said that he might miss a few more games.
With two losses to start, this game becomes a must-win game at home. A home defeat will make things difficult for Mumbai Indians.
MI Squad
Rohit Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, N. Tilak Varma, Tim David, Vishnu Vinod, Arjun Tendulkar, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera, Jasprit Bumrah, Kumar Kartikeya, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Jason Behrendorff, Romario Shepherd, Hardik Pandya (c), Gerald Coetzee, Dilshan Madushanka, Shreyas Gopal, Nuwan Untilhara, Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Mohammad Nabi, Shivalik Sharma.
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Rajasthan Royals
The core of the team has performed well. While they were expected to step up, Riyan Parag’s rise in the previous match was a welcome sign for the team.
He scored an unbeaten 84 and followed up his brilliant 43 in the first game. With him getting runs. the batting order looks even stronger with Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler and Riyan Parag in the top three.
The bowling attack has many variations with Sandeep Sharma coming into the bowl after the first 10 overs and Trent Boult most of the time completing his quota within 15 overs. Avesh Khan defended 17 in the final over against DC to show his class as a bowler.
He was traded before the season from LSG. In Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin, the Royals perhaps have the best twins in the tournament. After CSK, they are looking for the most complete team in the tournament.
RR Squadron
Sanju Samson (c), Jos Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Donovan Ferreira, Kunal Rathore, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Sen, Navdeep Saini, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Sharma, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa , Avesh Khan, Rovman Powell, Shubham Dubey, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Abid Mushtaq, Nandre Burger.
Key battles
Rohit Sharma vs. Trent Boult
Rohit will open the batting and will face his former Mumbai Indians teammate Trent Boult. The left-arm pacer was dismissed only once in the IPL in 2018. Rohit scored 17 off 17 balls against him.
Hardik Pandya vs. Yuzvendra Chahal
Chahal has dismissed Pandya three times in the IPL. The MI captain has scored 58 runs off 62 balls against him. Captain Hardik will bat in the final overs and Samson has also backed Chahal to bowl at the death.
Ishan Kishan – Tim David vs Ravichandran Ashwin
David and Kishan, both batsmen, will face the wily Ravichandran Ashwin in the match. It will be interesting to watch how this battle plays out.
Key players. Main players
For RR, top four batsmen, Jaiswal. Buttler, Samsona and Parag are key, followed by Hetmyer and Powell as the big hitters. With the ball, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin are key.
For MY, Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma and captain Hardik in the absence of SKY are the key batsmen. With the ball they don’t have many options and that is why Bumrah and Piyush Chawla are key.
Climate and tone
The weather conditions for the MI vs RR IPL 2024 match are expected to be hot and humid. In the afternoon temperatures will be around 26 degrees and there are no signs of rain. Humidity will be around 65 percent. The impact of the dew will be an interesting observation.
Talking about the Wankhede pitch, it has always been a batting-friendly pitch. More than 200 totals have been posted and consistently chased in previous IPL seasons.
With this being the first game of the season at this venue, how much the team bats first will be key. Playing at home, how Hardik Pandya leads the Mi Bowling attack will also be key.
Conclusion
As said earlier, Mumbai Indians are yet to win in the season while the Royals won both the games. MI has won four of the last five games against the Royals and has also won six of the 10 games against RR at home. However, heading into this match, they will be under pressure to change their campaign.
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