MI vs RCB LIVE score, Today's IPL 2021 Match Updates: Kohli, Rohit to reveal playing XI during toss at 7pm

Hello and welcome to Sportstar's LIVE coverage of the IPL 2021 opener - MI vs RCB. This is Santadeep Dey bringing you all the action as it unfurls at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

[MI vs RCB, IPL 2021, MATCH 1 LIVE SCORECARD]

LIVE COMMENTARY

• Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma and the Pandya brothers are limbering up in the middle for Friday's blockbuster clash.
  
   
• It's poll time, ladies and gentlemen!
  

  Familiar rivals in an unfamiliar setting.
  
  Mumbai vs Bangalore at Chepauk. Who will come out on top? #MIvsRCB #MI #RCB #IPL2021

  — Sportstar (@sportstarweb) April 9, 2021

• We have the first visual from the centre! Turns out Chepauk's all blue, instead of the customary yellow, as it gears up to host today's IPL match in exactly two hours from now. Tick tock... tick tock...
  
• RCB has just dropped its anthem for this season. Check it out.
  

  RCB anthem IPL 2021
  
  "."
  
  A new season, and a renewed will to #PlayBold!#WeAreChallengers #IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/o75RBX4rk5

  — Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) April 9, 2021

• Less than two hours remaining for the toss. Why don't you go through our special IPL 2021 section until then? You may also choose to put those grey cells to work by trying out a few quizzes!

MATCH PREVIEW

It’s Virat Kohli vs Rohit Sharma. Two different kinds of captains and leaders. One whose body language bristles with aggression. The other who is more laid-back but street smart.

In other words, a gun-slinger versus a smooth operator.

The IPL lung opener between defending champion Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore could prove intriguing.

The surface for the day/night game at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Friday should provide good carry in the first half but could assist the spinners later on. Dew could be a big factor.

For RCB, much hinges on the opening pair of Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal - he has recovered well from Covid - but they will be against the deadly combination of Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult.

Bumrah swings the new ball away and then delivers potent yorkers. Boult will be a threat with his swing and left-armer’s angle.

RCB, though, has batting firepower. Apart from the gifted AB de Villiers who can innovate and create effortlessly, the side has the destructive Glenn Maxwell.

READ|IPL 2021 MI team preview

RCB would do well if it utilises the wonderfully fluent batting potential of Washington Sundar. He is more than an accurate off-spinner.

Mumbai Indians is a complete side. The brutal Rohit can win matches off his own bat. 

Then you have strokeful Quinton de Kock, whose availability for the match could be a touch-and-go affair. 

And the side has stupendous domestic talent with the willow; the explosive Ishan Kishan, the smooth-stroking Suryakumar Yadav, the big-hitting Hardik Pandya, and the dynamic Krunal Pandya. Then there is a palm-tree hitter Kieron Pollard.

ALSO READ| IPL 2021 RCB team preview

In the RCB attack, exciting Kiwi paceman Kyle Jamieson will be watched with keen interest. Yuzvendra Chahal could also enter the picture. 

The opening duel could be a titanic affair.

- by S. Dinakar

PREDICTED XI

MI: Rohit Sharma (C), Chris Lynn, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Adam Milne, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult.

RCB: Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Daniel Christian, Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Mumbai has clashed with Bangalore 29 times in the IPL and enjoys a 19-10 win-loss advantage.

LAST FIVE IPL MEETINGS

If the last five encounters are to be taken into account, MI again holds a slight advantage over RCB, winning thrice compared to Kohli and Co.'s two victories.

Last season, while the first leg was won by RCB in a super-over thriller, Mumbai got the better of Bangalore in the second leg.

TOP PERFORMERS IN THE FIXTURE

STARS FROM LAST SEASON

SQUADS

Mumbai Indians (MI): Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (WK), Chris Lynn, Anmolpreet Singh, Saurabh Tiwary, Aditya Tare, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Anukul Roy, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohsin Khan, Adam Milne, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, James Neesham, Yudhvir Charak, Marco Jansen, Arjun Tendulkar.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB): Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Navdeep Saini, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa, Shahbaz Ahmed, Josh Philippe, Pavan Deshpande, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Devdutt Padikkal, S. Bharat, Suyash Prabhudessai, Daniel Christian, Kyle Jamieson, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Rajat Patidar, Sachin Baby, Glenn Maxwell.

AT WHAT TIME DOES IPL 2021 - MI vs RCB START?

The IPL 2021 first match between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore begins at 7:30 PM IST.

WHERE TO WATCH IPL 2021 - MI vs RCB LIVE?

IPL 2021 will be aired live on Star Sports channels - Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 3 and Star Sports 3 HD. It will be streamed live on Disney+Hotstar. You can also follow the live commentary and latest updates of IPL 2021 on Sportstar.