Big picture - Mumbai Indians' bowling looks thin
Royal Challengers Bangalore's quest for their maiden IPL title is still on but they have been pretty consistent of late, making the playoffs in each of the last three seasons. This run has also coincided with them not playing at their home ground, M Chinnaswamy Stadium - theirs is one of the poorest home records for an IPL team. This season, they play six of their first eight games in Bengaluru, which could dictate how their campaign goes.
Virat Kohli's return to form in international cricket is a big plus for them, but they need Dinesh Karthik to repeat his heroics from last year too.
Mumbai Indians, their opponents, are the most successful IPL team with five titles but they have been in a rebuilding phase since the 2022 mega auction. They finished at the bottom of the points table last season, with four wins and ten losses. This time, they have fortified their batting by signing Cameron Green. However, their dream of Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer bowling in tandem will have to wait another season to become reality.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma will be keen to make an impact with the bat. The last time he averaged over 30 in an IPL season was in 2016.
Team news - big names missing
Royal Challengers will be without Wanindu Hasaranga, Rajat Patidar and Josh Hazlewood. Hasaranga is in New Zealand for the T20I series; Patidar is at the NCA, recovering from his heel injury; Hazlewood is in Australia for rehab of Achilles tendonitis. Mike Hesson, Royal Challengers' director of cricket, said on Friday that Hazlewood would "join the group on April 13 and will continue his last bit of rehab in India".
Mumbai Indians are without Jhye Richardson and, of course, Bumrah. Both are out of the tournament. Mumbai have signed Sandeep Warrier as Bumrah's replacement, though.
Toss and Impact Player strategy
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Royal Challengers don't have many exciting options on the bench to make full use of the Impact Player rule. In fact, they can go with the same XI irrespective of whether they are batting or bowling first.
Probable XI: 1 Faf du Plessis (capt), 2 Virat Kohli, 3 Mahipal Lomror, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Michael Bracewell, 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Shahbaz Ahmed, 8 Harshal Patel, 9 Akash Deep, 10 Reece Topley, 11 Mohammed Siraj
If they are batting first and need an extra batter at any stage, Suyash Prabhudessai can come in as Impact Player. Else they can bring in Siddarth Kaul or Karn Sharma in the second innings. If they are bowling first, Prabhudessai could come in during the chase.
Mumbai Indians
Mumbai are not placed any better in terms of Impact Player options. Left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya is probably their best option, and could replace Tilak Varma when they are bowling.
Probable bat-first XI: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Tim David, 6 Cameron Green, 7 Ramandeep Singh, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Hrithik Shokeen, 10 Sandeep Warrier, 11 Jason Behrendorff
If they are bowling first, Kartikeya starts; Varma replaces him in the second innings.
Probable bowl-first XI: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Tim David, 5 Cameron Green, 6 Ramandeep Singh, 7 Jofra Archer, 8 Hrithik Shokeen, 9 Sandeep Warrier, 10 Jason Behrendorff, 11 Kumar Kartikeya
Stats that matter - tie Kohli up with spin
During the recent T20I series against New Zealand, Ishan Kishan found it difficult to get going against Michael Bracewell, falling to him twice in 13 balls for just seven runs.
Harshal Patel has dismissed Rohit three times in 23 balls while conceding only 27 runs.
Since the start of 2022, Kohli's T20 strike rate against spin is 119.75. Against pace, it's 137.35.
Pitch and conditions - Home disadvantage
Over the years, M Chinnaswamy Stadium has been a nightmare for bowlers. Don't expect anything different this time either. And while it might be the home venue for Royal Challengers, they have 42 wins and 40 losses here. On the other hand, Mumbai have ten wins and three losses at this venue.
Quotes
"Mumbai Indians have got a good record here. But that's all in the past. There're new characters within the teams. So you can sort of take that from a confidence perspective and try to infiltrate that into the players. But the bottom line is you don't win the game of cricket on paper."
Mumbai head coach Mark Boucher is not dwelling much on the past
