The 39th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 will be played between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. RCB has won 5 of their 9 matches so far, and they are currently standing third on the points table. On the other hand, MI has only managed to win 4 of their 9 matches so far, and are currently placed at the sixth spot on the points table.
In their last game against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Sharjah, RCB suffered a 6-wicket loss. While batting first, RCB only managed to reach a total of 156 runs despite a partnership of 111 runs for the first wicket. Eventually, the target was comfortably chased down by the CSK in the 19th over itself and they successfully defeated RCB for the second time in this season.
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On the other hand, MI last played against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Abu Dhabi where the latter registered a comfortable win by 7 wickets. While batting first, Mumbai Indians managed 156 runs, which was chased by KKR in the 16th over itself. RCB and MI have played 30 matches against each other in the history of the IPL so far, where MI came out victorious 19 times while RCB managed to win 11 games. The last they played against each other in this season, RCB defeated MI by 2 wickets.
Let us have a look at 3 player battles to watch out for the PBKS vs RR match of IPL 2021.
#1 Devdutt Padikkal vs Trent Boult
Devdutt Padikkall came out all guns blazing against CSK and smashed 70 runs. The right-handed opener has so far amassed 287 runs in 8 innings. With his great knock in the last match, Padikkal will aim to play another good knock against MI. Trent Boult will have the task to neutralize the threat of Devdutt Padikkal. Boult usually bowls the starting overs for MI and Padikkal bats as an opener for RCB. Hence, both the players will definitely face each other. Hence, it will be interesting to watch who among the two overpowers the other.
#2 Rohit Sharma vs Mohammed Siraj
Rohit Sharma made his comeback in his first match of the UAE leg of the IPL 2021 against KKR. He missed the first game against CSK but was leading the team in the clash against KKR. With 283 runs in 8 games, Sharma is the highest run-scorer for MI. He has only managed to score 1 half-century in the tournament and will be eager to score another big knock.
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Mohammed Siraj will have the task to send back Sharma as early as possible. In the previous games, he has been picking some crucial wickets for RCB. Siraj has picked 6 wickets in 9 games so far. Apart from Harshal Patel and Kyle Jamieson, Siraj is the most dependable pacer for RCB.
#3 AB de Villiers vs Jasprit Bumrah
AB de Villiers has the ability of demolishing any bowling line-up in the world and that males him the most dangeruous batsman in RCB team. In IPL 2021 so far, the right-handed batsman has piled up 219 runs in 8 innings with 2 half-centuries. However, against for MI, Jasprit Bumrah will be given the responsibility of dismissing De Villiers without a big score. Bumrah is a wicket-taking bowler for MI and that makes his battle with ABD an interesting one. Then it will be exciting to watch if Bumrah manages to attack ABD with his deliveries or not.
