ipl 2020: IPL 2020: Misfiring Royal Challengers Bangalore face Mumbai Indians’ might | Cricket News – Times of India

After opening their Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign with a get-out-of-jail 10-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad, it hasn’t taken Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) long to backpedal. Against Kings XI Punjab in their second encounter, familiar woes resurfaced in the form of a brittle middle order and an inconsistent pace attack, especially in the death overs. The fact that skipper Virat Kohli was off-colour both in the field and with the bat only compounded their woes.
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On Monday, they will take on Mumbai Indians (MI), who come into the match on the back of a comfortable victory against Kolkata Knight Riders. The contest will be as much about the rival captains — Kohli and Rohit Sharma — as their bowling attacks.
Kohli and Co. have a poor record against the defending champions. In the 25 matches they have played against each other, Mumbai have been victorious on 16 occasions. That overwhelming slant and current form will see Rohit’s team starting as favourites.

In the two matches so far, RCB’s chinks have been exposed. For all the pre-season talk of death-bowling issues having been addressed, the performance against Kings XI suggested otherwise. RCB leaked 74 runs in the last four overs, and 49 in the last two. The form of seasoned pacers Umesh Yadav and Dale Steyn is a cause for concern. The duo has a combined economy rate of over 11, having conceded 173 of the 359 runs scored against RCB in the tournament.
Kohli will be tempted to replace at least one of them, but the question is, who will come in?

The previous exploits of Mohd Siraj do not inspire much confidence, while the availability status of Chris Morris, laid low by a side strain, is not clear. On the batting front, while skipper Kohli will look to regain form, the misfiring lower middle-order must pull its socks up.
Mumbai, on the other hand, will be upbeat given the sizzling form of Sharma (54-ball 80) in their last match against KKR. In the middle order, MI will expect more from Saurabh Tiwary and the much-hyped Hardik Pandya.