The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will begin their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 campaign amid high expectations against Mumbai Indians (MI) at their home ground M Chinnaswamy stadium. RCB has successfully reached the playoffs in the last three seasons but failed to clinch the trophy due to a weak bowling attack. Although they are facing some availability concerns, the Royal Challengers have a good mix of youth and experience in their squad, with captain Faf du Plessis at the helm.

On the other hand, Mumbai Indians boast a brilliant batting unit comprising Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav. Although they will be without star pacer Jasprit Bumrah for the entire season, MI have a decent bowling attack and will fancy their chances of a win. The five-time champions finished dead last in the points table at the end of the league stage of IPL 2022 and have made a couple of significant additions to their roster since.

ALSO READ: Match 3 – LSG vs DC – Who Said What

In the 32 head-to-head games between these two sides, MI has won 19 matches, while RCB has only registered 13 wins. All in all, another cracking game beckons as IPL cricket returns to the famed Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)

RCB has brought in Kiwi all-rounder Michael Bracewell to replace Will Jacks. They have a pretty decent squad with some global gladiators in the team. Kohli, Faf Du Plessis, and Glenn Maxwell will be their batting backbone, while the likes of Mohammed Siraj, and Wanindu Hasaranga will spearhead their bowling attack.

ALSO READ: Match 4 (SRH vs RR) – Playing XI And Fantasy XI Predictions

RCB have their entire squad available for the first match and they do have more or less a settled core from last season. Shahbaz Ahmed can be used as an all-rounder while players like Akash Deep, and Anuj Rawat may be slotted in the Impact Players list.

Probable XI: Faf du Plessis (C), Virat Kohli, Suyash Prabhudessai, Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Michael Bracewell, Dinesh Karthik, Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel, Reece Topley

Impact players: Manoj Bhandage, Anuj Rawat, Akash Deep, Karn Sharma, Himanshu Sharma 

Mumbai Indians (MI)

MI will be dearly missing Jasprit Bumrah. They replaced their premier pacer with Sandeep Warrier, a much more underwhelming name on paper. They have an excellent batting unit comprised of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, and overseas players like Cameron Green and Tim David.

ALSO READ: Match 4 (SRH vs RR) – 3 Players Matchups To Watchout For

Mumbai’s bowling department is boosted with the arrival of Jofra Archer, who will be making a debut for the franchise. Youngsters like Tilak Varma and Tristan Stubbs will be expected to play a specific part in the course of the tournament, as Nehal Wadhera, Piyush Chawla can be their impact options.

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (C), Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Cameron Green, Ramandeep Singh, Hrithik Shokeen, Jofra Archer, Kumar Kartikeya, Jason Behrendorff

Impact players: Nehal Wadhera, Piyush Chawla, Shams Mulani, Raghav Goyal

Fantasy XI Suggestion 1:

Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (vc), Faf du Plessis, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Harshal Patel, Jason Behrendorff, Mohammed Siraj, Jofra Archer

Fantasy XI Suggestion 2:

Ishan Kishan, Dinesh Karthik, Rohit Sharma (c), Faf du Plessis (vc), Suryakumar Yadav, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Shahbaz Ahmed, Harshal Patel, Jason Behrendorff, Jofra Archer