Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians, IPL 2023, Today Match Prediction

rcb vs mi Match Prediction & Analysis

RCB will kick off their IPL 2023 season with a home game in Bengaluru against the 5-time champions, MI. Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians will be missing the services of their key frontline bowler, Jasprit Bumrah. But they’ve got back another pace gun, Jofra Archer, fit to play this season.

Faf du Plessis continues to lead the Royal Challengers and they will be a man down in the early stages as Josh Hazlewood is out with an injury. Jason Beherendorff has been transferred from RCB to MI for the 2023 season. RCB will have Siraj and Harshal Patel leading their pace attack. 

Some of the notable signings for RCB are Reece Topley and Michael Bracewell. The latter found great success on New Zealand’s tour of India and will be a crucial figure in the middle order for RCB.

MI need to sort their bowling combinations out. Without Burmah, they will be desperate to find a reliable Indian bowler. There can be many new faces in the MI bowling attack led by Archer.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Royal Challengers Bangalore Preview

Bangalore begin their campaign at home against Mumbai Indians. A key change in the all-rounders' department was bringing in Bracewell for Rutherford. And we reckon this will make a big impact for RCB this season. They needed an all-rounder who could be a potential replacement for Maxwell in the XI.

In case Maxwell isn’t in good touch, an in-form Bracewell can deliver with both bat and ball and play the finisher’s role quite well. Rajat Patidar has risen in the ranks and is now a reliable batter at number 3.

Mahipal Lomror is likely to get another chance at number 5 followed by Shahbaz Ahmed. Dinesh Karthik is still part of the squad but we don’t think he would be much of an asset for the team this year.

RCB should be looking at other wicket-keeper options like Finn Allen and Anuj Rawat. Of these two, Allen is the better choice. It will be interesting to see whether Faf drops Hasaranga to make way for Michael Bracewell. Reece Topley is a promising fast bowler who can come in for Josh Hazlewood. 

RCB have a strong overall squad with experienced batters at the top and young talent in the bowling department that has been exceptional in recent times.

Royal Challengers Bangalore Predicted Playing XI:

Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Siraj

Royal Challengers Bangalore Actual Playing XI:

Mohammed Siraj, Shahbaz Ahmed, Virat Kohli, Harshal Patel, Dinesh Karthik, Faf du Plessis, Michael Bracewell, Karn Sharma, Akash Deep, Glenn Maxwell, Reece Topley

Mumbai Indians Preview

Mumbai Indians had their worst IPL season last year finishing at the bottom of the points table with just 4 wins from 14 matches. It will not be easy to beat RCB at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. 

And that too when the bowling combinations aren’t set. MI kept trying out different combinations throughout the season in 2022. And it was only Burmah who stood out every time with exceptional figures.

This time around while there is no Bumrah, Rohit will be expecting some magic from Jofra Archer who’ll be raring to go. Sandeep Warrier is another bowler we can expect to see in this attack.

After the bowling failure last year, MI have made plenty of changes. Basil Thampi, Tymal Mills, Riley Meredith, Jayadev Unadkat, and Murugan Ashwin are all out of the side. 

Mayank Markande is also not seen in the squad this year. This will be a headache for Rohit Sharma to manage. Another year with huge changes in the bowling department will not be easy to navigate.

Though there are bowlers like Jason Behrendorff and Duan Jansen in the squad, they can’t have three overseas bowlers otherwise that would upset the batting combinations. 

That means we will get to see many young Indian bowlers making their debut in IPL with MI. As far as batting is concerned, Rohit has a solid lineup with the likes of Brewis, Tim David, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, and Suryakumar Yadav.

There is enough firepower in this batting lineup to post a competitive score at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. 

Mumbai Indians Predicted Playing XI:

Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Dewald Brewis, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Cameron Green, Sandeep Warrier, Jofra Archer, Akash Madhwal, Arshad Khan

Mumbai Indians Actual Playing XI:

Nehal Wadhera, Piyush Chawla, Cameron Green, Arshad Khan, Timothy David, Jofra Archer, Hrithik Shokeen, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

The pitch is a batting paradise here at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Batters have easily chased down big scores in the T20 format in the past. The weather will be mostly sunny with a high of 33 degrees Celsius.

Venue Details

M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru will host this match between RCB and MI. The average 1st innings score here in domestic T20s is 164 runs. It is not easy to defend a score on this ground given the shorter boundaries and batting-friendly pitch. Teams should be aiming at something over 185-190 if they bat first.

Toss: To Bowl

Teams batting second have won 61 of the 115 domestic T20 matches played at this venue in Bengaluru. Of the 7 T20Is played here, the team batting second emerged victorious on 5 occasions. Both teams have solid batting lineups with big-hitting superstars who can chase down a big total

RCB vs MI
Winning Prediction

There is no doubt about the batting prowess of both teams. There are many big-hitting batters in both teams who can lead their respective teams to a big enough total on this ground. However, RCB has the edge in terms of bowling while MI are back to square one in that department having to figure out new bowling combinations again. RCB also have the home advantage on their side and will start as favourites in our match prediction.

Our prediction is for RCB to win the match

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