Mumbai Indians coach Mahela Jayawardene and captain Hardik Pandya. (Photo credit: IPL) GUWAHATI: It’s still early in the season but Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians head into Tuesday’s clash at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium on contrasting tones.Royals built early momentum with back-to-back wins as the five-time champions look for consistency after a six-wicket loss to Delhi Capitals, following a dominant opening win over Kolkata Knight Riders.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SIGN UP NOW!Rajasthan started their campaign with a crushing win over Chennai Super Kings at their adopted home in Guwahati and followed it up with a nervous but smart win over Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad. The Riyan Parag-led side, who defended just 15 runs in their last two matches to seal a six-run win, are brimming with confidence and will look to continue their winning run in their second match here.Mumbai, meanwhile, will be keen on the return of captain Hardik Pandya, who missed the previous match due to a viral fever. With India T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav stepping in as stand-in against Delhi, MI had to reshuffle their combination and looked a little worried.Pandya has since returned to training and is expected to return to the playing XI, although he missed Monday’s training session after Sunday’s practice. MI bowling coach Paras Mhambrey sounded optimistic at the pre-match press conference.“Yes, he will be available for the match. He hit the net for a few hours yesterday. He is fit and fine. He was not injured, just sick,” said Mhambrey.Pandya’s absence forced MI to bring in South African all-rounder Corbin Bosch as a replacement while Trent Boult stepped back. Deepak Chahar bowled a neat spell but Bosch failed to impress, leaving MI’s bowling combination lacking balance. Bumrah is yet to pick a wicketJasprit Bumrah has been economical as ever but is yet to take a wicket this season while Mitchell Santner has done well to keep his place. However, the MI attack faces a tough challenge against the Rajasthan intelligence unit.Explosive starters Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal ensured good starts, with Dhruv Jurel steady in 3rd place. Parag and Shimron Hetmyer are yet to get significant time in the middle. Still, their presence adds depth to the line-up.Parag, in particular, will take confidence from his calm leadership against Gujarat, where his shrewd bowling changes helped Tushar Deshpande defend 11 runs in the final over. With Jofra Archer and Nadre Burger sharing the new ball effectively, the Royals look balanced.However, Mumbai have enough firepower in Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma to turn things around and set up a contest where momentum meets experience.THE NUMBERS GAME
- 19 – Jasprit Bumrah with 19 wickets at 19.36 runs apiece in 15 matches is the top scorer in MI vs RR matches.
- 173.28 – Hardik Pandya’s strike rate amassing 506 runs at an average of 72.28, including two fifties, in 15 innings (eight not outs) for Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans. It is the highest among batsmen with 500 runs or more vs Rajasthan Royals.
- 5 – Five hundreds scored by Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians in IPL – two by Yashasvi Jaiswal and one each by Jos Buttler, Yusuf Pathan and Ben Stokes. Jaiswal’s career-best 124 off 62 balls at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on 23 April 2023 remains the highest in matches involving the two teams.
Statistics – Rajesh Kumar
