IPL 2019: Royal Challengers Bangalore's strongest XI against Mumbai Indians
The RCB vs MI rivalry will be rekindled on March 28 2019, at the Chinnaswamy stadium. Both these teams lost their first matches - MI lost to DC, while RCB lost to CSK.
There were some surprising picks from Virat Kohli against CSK. He didn't pick Washington Sundar when the wicket clearly assisted spin, and his decision to play Colin de Grandhomme over Tim Southee was also questionable. Southee was brilliant for RCB last year, especially at the death.
Kohli will have to make quite a few changes against MI. RCB went for batting depth over quality of bowling, the same mistake that MI made in their opening fixture. RCB need five quality bowlers to bowl 20 overs; they have enough strength in their batting unit to hurt anyone.
So without further ado, let us have a look at the strongest possible XI for RCB against MI.
#1. Top order
RCB are expected to go to the same opening combination. The onus will be on the duo of Kohli and Parthiv Patel to provide a good start.
Patel is a veteran in the IPL and has the ability to give quick starts to his team. He was RCB's highest scorer against CSK.
Kohli, like every other RCB batsman, failed to score big against CSK. He will be looking to correct that against MI, and the Chinnaswamy wicket always seems to assist batsmen.
Kohli simply has to come good as a lot rests on his shoulders from RCB's batting point of view.
In at number 3 will be AB de Villiers. De Villiers admitted that he didn't apply himself well enough on a tough pitch at Chennai. The RCB great has to find form quickly as he is absolutely vital to RCB's chances of winning their first ever IPL.
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