The 48th match of the IPL 2020 will see Mumbai Indians (MI) take on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on October 28, 2020. The match will be played at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, and will begin at 7.30 PM IST.
MI sits at the top of the points table with 14 points, while RCB is second with the same number of points and a win here for either will take them one step closer to playoffs qualification.
The last encounter between the two sides went into a super over after both teams scored 201 runs each. RCB won the super over and pocketed two points. Both the teams however have lost their previous encounters before this match. RCB lost to Chennai Super Kings, while MI suffered a loss to Rajasthan Royals.
IPL 2020: Match 48, MI vs RCB – Fantasy Cricket League Tips and Possible Playing XIs
As the league stage nears its end, the tournament table has been known to shape-shift dramatically in past seasons, and there's a possibility, this year, of five teams finishing tied at 16 points. Hence this match becomes very crucial for both teams and hence TEAM COC presents to you the Predicted Playing XIs for the MI v RCB match.
MUMBAI INDIANS (MI)
Mumbai Indians have been on a roll this entire tournament, but have never quite seemed to seize the initiative to win a flurry of matches and qualify for the playoffs.
MI had put a video of Rohit Sharma batting in nets on the day he was excluded from India’s touring party to Australia, but it seems his hamstring is not healed properly for him to play this game and Kieron Pollard will continue to lead in his stead. The MI batting has been as good as they can get with De Kock, Kishan, Suryakumar, and the Pandya brothers shining brightly.
However, in their last match, Rajasthan showed that MI batsmen have problems with quality spin, especially leg-spin. RCB can capitalize on this if they can play their cards right.
On the bowling front, MI bowlers were taken to cleaners by Rajasthan Royals batsmen, especially the reliable Bumrah and Pattinson. It may be an off day for the MI bowling unit, but they will come across a rampaging AB de Villiers, an in-form Devdutt Padikkal, and ever consistent Virat Kohli in this match and they need to bring their A-game to the table.
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE (RCB)
Royal Challengers Bangalore gave CSK their first win in some time in the IPL when they clashed in Dubai recently. It was just a contrasting performance from the fluid RCB batting as they struggled to bat on a slow track and hence couldn’t put a decent total on the board and lost the match.
However, they have to also face the prospect of Navdeep Saini, one of their most consistent performers missing this game as he split the webbing on his bowling hand against CSK. This means RCB might look to bring in Isuru Udana for Moeen Ali as they missed his cutters badly against CSK.
"Dhoni brought the fitness intensity first and Kohli took it to the next level", says Shaun Pollock
This can also result in Shivam Dube coming in for Navdeep Saini to balance the side. Though Aaron Finch has struggled to get going in a consistent way, RCB would be wary of breaking the opening duo of him and Padikkal, this late in the tournament, and experiment with someone else. Though they might go with Ali as an opener.
It is a must-win game for both teams, but for RCB it is also necessary for them to improve their net run-rate as it is possible that multiple teams may end up on the same points and NRR might come in handy.
MI COC Predicted Playing XI:
Quinton de Kock (WK), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard (C), Krunal Pandya, James Pattinson, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
RCB COC Predicted Playing XI:
Aaron Finch, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers (WK), Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Isuru Udana, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj
