IPL 2019: Mumbai Indians' strongest playing XI against Rajasthan Royals
The Mumbai Indians take on the Rajasthan Royals on Saturday at the Wankhede Stadium in the day game, with both these teams coming into this game on the back of contrasting fortunes and results. MI have won three games on the bounce while RR has now lost two consecutive games.
MI had to make a forced change against Kings XI Punjab in their last game as the injured Rohit Sharma was replaced by the Mumbai lad, Siddhesh Lad, with Kieron Pollard as the stand-in skipper. MI is currently looking like a team in form and against a struggling RR side, they would fancy their chances of getting their fourth consecutive victory.
So, in this article, we take a look at the strongest playing XI of Mumbai Indians against Rajasthan Royals:
Openers: Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock
Rohit Sharma missed the last game due to injury but he is expected to be fit against RR. The MI skipper hasn't had the best of starts to this year's IPL and on a considerably flat pitch at the Wankhede, he would be looking to get his team off to a good start.
Quinton de Kock, just like his opening partner, has struggled to get going for MI and the South African needs to pull his socks up as another poor performance could see him replaced by Evin Lewis.
Middle Order: Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, and Kieron Pollard
Suryakumar Yadav has blown hot and cold with the bat so far but he has that tendency of throwing his wicket away after getting a good start. That is exactly what happened against KXIP, and that is something he would be looking to rectify against RR.
Ishan Kishan has now played two games for MI after he replaced Yuvraj Singh, but the youngster has struggled to get going and he was run out against KXIP in an unfortunate way, so he would be looking for his first big score against RR on Saturday.
Kieron Pollard has been brilliant for the last three matches for MI, and it was his match-winning performance with the bat that won MI the game against KXIP as the stand-in skipper scored a belligerent 83 runs off just 31 balls. The big West Indian will be looking forward to continuing his good form against RR.
All-Rounders: Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya
The Pandya brothers have been in top form this year and they have been producing the goods for the three-time IPL champions with their all-around abilities.
Hardik has been in terrific hitting form but he got out for just 19 runs against KXIP and he also went for plenty in his bowling and he would be looking for a better performance against RR.
Krunal, on the other hand, was average with the ball and his batting form will be a slight concern for MI as he hasn't really got going with the bat since the start of IPL. The elder Pandya will be looking to get back into his hitting form against RR.
Bowlers: Rahul Chahar, Jason Behrendorff, Alzarri Joseph and Jasprit Bumrah
MI's bowling line-up went for plenty of runs against KXIP as they shipped 197 runs on a flat deck. Alzarri Joseph, who was the star of the show against SRH, didn't bowl much and his batting came into play in the last match. Bumrah, on the hand, has struggled in the death overs against KXIP which was very unlike him.
The lanky West Indian along with Behrendorff and Bumrah form a formidable pace battery, and against a struggling RR batting unit, they would be fancying their chances.
Rahul Chahar was brilliant against KXIP as he bowled his four overs for just 28 runs, which was one of the most economical spells on the day. The young leggie would be looking to continue his great bowling form against RR.
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