Rajasthan Royals (RR) won the first edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), back in 2008, their only title till date. Mumbai Indians (MI) won the last edition, in 2020. They have also won it a record five times, all in the last eight seasons. They will now clash at the Arun Jaitley Stadium,in New Delhi for Match 24 of IPL 2021.
A formidable pair of openers; then, a pair of explosive batters at three and four, fresh from successful international debuts; and finally, a power-packed middle order that goes down to seven. There is little doubt that Mumbai Indians have the best batting line-up for any side at any level in contemporary T20 cricket.
And yet, their batters lack that one aspect that makes all the difference in the world: form. The “class is permanent” cliche may hold in the long run, but at this point, batting form is something the Mumbai think-tank should be worried about.
Rohit Sharma (201 runs at 131) and Suryakumar Yadav (154 at 144) are the only Mumbai batsmen to have aggregated 75 runs in this edition. Worse, if one ignores Chris Lynn (who has batted once), they are the only two batters to have struck at 120 or more. The rest of the Mumbai batters have neither stayed at the wicket nor scored quickly.
Change the strategy, perhaps? Shuffle the batting line-up around? Mumbai do not like chopping and changing, but there are junctures when you have to take that decision. They can take one decision, however: they can opt to bowl if they win the toss. Until now, they have batted first in every match they played, and are yet to reach 160. Maybe if their bowlers can restrict the Royals to a low score, their batsmen may not struggle.
Speaking of Mumbai bowlers, they have not quite lost form. Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult, often bowl separately at the start and together at the death, form arguably the most potent pace duo of the tournament. Rahul Chahar has the most wickets among spinners, while Jayant Yadav has been the most economical. Things will not be easy for Rajasthan.
To be fair, Rajasthan have been hit the hardest by the exodus of cricketers. They have lost Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Liam Livingstone, and Andrew Tye for various reasons, and are currently down to exactly four overseas cricketers: Chris Morris, Jos Buttler, Mustafizur Rahman, and David Miller. Their other problem has been their two massive defeats, against Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore, which has hit their net run rate hard.
They played well to beat Kolkata Knight Riders in their last match, but their batting line-up was barely by a target of 134. They got 217/7 against Punjab Kings, but 119 of these runs were scored by Sanju Samson alone. And since then, Miller has scored their only fifty.
However, some of their batters – Samson, Miller, Morris, Buttler, Rahul Tewatia, Riyan Parag – have struck at over 125. Not great strike rates, but remember, only two Mumbai batters have hit 120, and this has been a low-scoring tournament. Both teams feature out-of-form batters, but Rajasthan’s have scored slightly quicker. That may give them some hope.
The Rajasthan bowling, dependent largely on left-arm seamers, wrist-spinners, and Morris, has a very unusual look to it. They looked largely ineffective against Bangalore, when Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal went on rampage. Barring Jaydev Unadkat (6.66), all their bowlers have gone for eight or more an over. However, the same bowlers looked accurate and on target against Kolkata, again, a performance that should give them some hope.
To sum up, this is going to be a contest between two sides nowhere close to being their best in the tournament. Mumbai, the better side on paper, should win this one.
Head to head
The two sides have won 11 matches each. However, Rajasthan hold a 6-2 advantage over the last eight matches.
Key players
Hardik Pandya (Mumbai Indians): Hardik’s struggles at the crease have been worrying than his dismissals. Five matches, 37 balls faced, no six is not a season aggregate you associate him with. Perhaps this is when he will turn things around. And if he does, everyone knows what he is capable of.
Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals): Here is a statistic. Buttler strikes at 145 in all T20 and 148 in the IPL. However, against Mumbai Indians, that soars to 175. He is yet to score a fifty this season, so who better than his former franchise to make amends to that?
Likely XIs
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult.
Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Shivam Dube, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Riyan Parag, Chris Morris, Shreyas Gopal, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman.
Prediction
Mumbai to return to winning ways.