The tournament opener of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 is scheduled to be played between the defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday. MI will be eyeing to make a hat-trick of title triumphs as the Rohit Sharma-led side is arguably the best team in the competition, with the duo of Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan recently making their international debuts with half-centuries.
Apart from a power-packed batting unit, Mumbai is known for their fierce bowling as well comprising of Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult. With Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya in the spin department, MI has all the bases covered ahead of the IPL 2021 opener. For their opponents, RCB will be starting their campaign on high hopes and expectations, which have now been compounded by a couple of big-money signings. Apart from the usual suspects Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, they bought services of explosive Glenn Maxwell in the middle-order.
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While their batting unit looks quite settled, all eyes will be on IPL debutant Kyle Jamieson, who will be expected to lead their bowling attack alongside the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Navdeep Saini. MI are the clear favorites heading into the game, owing to their superior balance and depth. However, players like Kohli and De Villiers can never be taken lightly. Even in their head-to-head record, MI has won 19 of the 29 games they have played so far, while RCB winning the remaining 10 games.
Here are some fantasy XI predictions for the game:
Wicket-Keepers
AB de Villiers seems to be a better pick as he has been known for making a strong comeback and he will be much more effective on pitches in Chennai. However, for MI, Ishan Kishan will be keeping the wickets as he is known for playing match-winning knocks, but in order to maintain the balance of the Fantasy XI, De Villiers seems the better pick.
Batsmen
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Devdutt Padikkal have always been the prime contenders for fantasy cricket. Even, Chris Lynn also is added in fantasy cricket and that will depend on the balance of the squad. Apart from them, there are some useful batsmen in the line-ups as well, like Saurabh Tiwary, and Rajat Patidar.
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All-rounder
There are some really reliable all-rounders in both teams but citing the pitch in Chennai, Hardik Pandya, Glenn Maxwell, and Kieron Pollard seems to be the perfect fit. Apart from them, the good all-rounders for fantasy cricket are Krunal Pandya, and Dan Christian.
Bowlers
Both the teams don’t have decent bowling line-ups but they don’t have practiced a lot. Bowlers like Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, and Navdeep Saini become the obvious choices for the Fantasy XI on the dusty track at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Apart from them, some crucial bowlers can be like, Kane Richardson, Kyle Jamieson, and Rahul Chahar.
Fantasy Suggestion #1:
AB de Villiers, Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Washington Sundar (vc), Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, and Rahul Chahar
Fantasy Suggestion #2:
AB de Villiers, Krunal Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (c), Suryakumar Yadav (vc), Washington Sundar, Glenn Maxwell, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kyle Jamieson, and Rahul Chahar
