The 51st match of the IPL 2021 will see the Rajasthan Royals (RR), taking on the defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) in Sharjah. It is a crunch game for both the teams as they are placed 6th and 7th on the points table respectively. A win here for either of the two might result in better chances of playoffs qualification.
MI had defeated RR in their previous match of the IPL 2021 in Delhi and RR will be keen on repaying them back. This is a very interesting encounter between the two sides as MI fights to defend their two back-to-back IPL titles, while RR fights to stay alive in the tournament.
IPL 2021: Michael Vaughan calls Ravindra Jadeja the perfect T20 cricketer, says he offers everything
Keeping this in mind, here are the COC Predicted Playing XIs for the RR v MI match in Sharjah.
RAJASTHAN ROYALS (RR)
Rajasthan Royals had an amazing outing in their previous match against Chennai Super Kings as they chased down 190 runs with 21 balls to spare. This has done no harm to their net run rate as well and RR seemingly found their perfect playing XI as well.
The inclusion of Shivam Dube had bolstered their batting and the opening pair of Evin Lewis and Yashasvi Jaiswal finally have support down the order with Sanju Samson going along fine. They also have the foreign batting power of David Miller and Glenn Phillips.
Mustafizur Rahman and Chetan Sakariya have been on top of their game in the IPL 2021 and received great assistance from Kartik Tyagi. Tyagi missed the last game against CSK when Akash Singh was drafted into the XI, but if fit, Tyagi becomes the first-choice pacer.
IPL 2021: Need to express ourselves a bit more, says RR captain Sanju Samson
The leg-spin duo of Mayank Markande and Rahul Tewatia will be expected to control the flow of the runs in the middle overs.
MUMBAI INDIAN (MI)
MI has been hit by bad luck and a misfiring middle order. While openers Quinton de Kock and captain Rohit Sharma have given decent starts, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, and others have failed to continue that momentum.
Only Saurabh Tiwary has done well to bring some stability in the middle order. Also, Hardik Pandya's not bowling has hurt MI’s plans as his batting form is sketchy at the best. Kieron Pollard has shown some good form with the bat and has also bowled nicely.
Krunal Pandya got some of his mojo back in the last game after being hit for a lot in previous matches. Jayant Yadav’s inclusion was a good choice by the MI team management and he might continue in the XI as there is an abundance of left-handers in the RR lineup as well.
IPL 2021: Brian Lara slams Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan for not showing the right intent
Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah have done amazingly well in the pace department and Nathan Coulter-Nile has provided good support.
But MI will hope for their middle order to fire as they hope to stay alive in the race for the playoffs.
RR COC Predicted Playing XI:
Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (C&WK), Shivam Dube, Glenn Phillips, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Kartik Tyagi, Mayank Markande, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman
MI COC Predicted Playing XI:
Quinton de Kock (WK), Rohit Sharma (C), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jayant Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult
