1. Background:
Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals both got out of the jail in their previous fixtures. While Mumbai Indians faced an enormous force in the form of Ashutosh Sharma , Rajasthan Royals faced a force in the form of Sunil Narine. Mumbai Indians won a game which they shouldn’t have won and they had more questions than answers after their game against Punjab. They shouldn’t be too worried about their batting. Almost all the batsmen bar Hardik have scored runs and look in decent touch. They should however be worried about their bowling. In all fairness MI has won matches against Delhi Capitals, RCB and Punjab which tells us that against the table toppers they have been found out. MI’s bowling revolves around Bumrah and the onus lies on him to do all the heavy lifting. Everyone including Coetzee, Madhwal and Hardik are going over 10s which makes it difficult for the captain to contain the opposition. MI should look to rest Nabi who has had very little impact so far both with bat and bowl. If MI are not going to use him as a spin option they might as well give chance to Nuwan Thushara and strengthen their bowling line up.
Rajasthan Royals on the other hand are table toppers for a reason. Jos Butler is back in form and everyone bar Jaiswal have contributed in the cause. Rajasthan would want their premier batsmen to come good sooner than later. Though Jaiswal is almost a certainty for the upcoming T20 World Cup, he will soon feel the pressure and with the rumors of Virat and Rohit to open in the World Cup he would feel that the time is running out. Rajasthan’s bowling looks good. Spinners are doing well with Chahal amongst the wickets and Boult and Avesh Khan are doing good with in the pace department. They would want Sandeep Sharma back in the team to tick all the boxes.
2. Ground & Pitch:
Jaipur has been a fortress for Rajasthan this year. The ground is bigger than the other in the league like Eden, Wankhede, Delhi or Chinaswamy but still the score have been good this season. That is primarily due to the impact sub rule where teams have the luxury to bat till 8. The last innings here have been 193, 185, 183 and 196 where two games have been won by team batting first and two by teams batting second. So no definite trend about the toss here. Given an evening game and the warm conditions I would assume the team winning the toss will bowl first and back themselves chasing it.
3. Players To Watch For Rajasthan Royal
Jaiswal has to strike form. He has looked half the player he was in the Test Series against England and should probably spend some time on the crease before he goes for big shots. He has looked good but RR expect much more from him.
Chahal is looking good and if only he would have been competing for the spinners spot he would have made it to the World Cup. Problem is that he is fighting for his place against Jadeja and Axar. Expect him to continue doing well.
Samson is fighting for his place in the World Cup Squad and he has missed some good opportunities this year. He would want to come good against MI’s average bowling.
4. Players To Watch For Mumbai Indians
Bumrah is clearly the best bowler in the league and in the world. Don’t expect anything less this time around. He will do well.
Surya Kumar Yadav is the key for Mumbai Indians in the batting department. Once Rohit and Ishan give the start it is Surya who converts a good score to a match winning score. Expect fireworks from him.
Hardik Pandya the all rounder and the captain has to have a good game sooner than later. He is talented and is in the news for all the wrong reasons. He would want this to change.
5. Betting Tips:
Run Line is at 189.5 at the time of writing this blog and I would have wanted this to be a little lower at around 183 but both the teams strong suit is batting. Score range 183-193.
Match Bet. Mumbai start as favorite like they always do against all the teams. At 1.81 pre match i would avoid this. Rajasthan would not be that easy push overs specially when their batting is clicking the way it is. It almost feels the game is RR vs Bumrah if RR can handle Bumrah expect them to win this one as well. MI batsmen will score runs but they need someone to defend them as well. As of now there is no one bar Bumrah. Match bet Avoid , play on the lines.