IPL 2021: Chris Lynn and Marco Jansen Make Debut for Mumbai Indians Against RCB

Chris Lynn and Marco Jansen will be making their debut for Mumbai Indians in the opening game of IPL 2021 against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai. It will also be Jansen’s IPL debut. Lynn has played 41 IPL matches in all for 1280 runs at a strike rate around 140, and was picked by Mumbai Indians last season. However, he did not get a chance in the XI.

For RCB, Kyle Jamieson, Glenn Maxwell and Rajat Patidar make their debut. While Maxwell has been a regular in the IPL, Jamieson and Patidar are playing their first IPL game. Patidar comes in place of Devdutt Padikkal, who misses out having just recovered from COVID-19. He is set to play from the second match.

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With Quinton de Kock under quarantine after arriving from South Africa’s series against Pakistan, Lynn has got his opportunity. 20-year-old Jansen, who was was picked by MI this season, is a bowling all rounder who bowls left arm pace.

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Five time IPL champions, Mumbai Indians (MI) will clash with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the opening match of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The encounter will boast of a number of superstars in both the teams and the captaincy battle – Rohit Sharma vs Virat Kohli – will add extra spice to the contest. MI are the two-time defending title holders while RCB are yet to lay their hands on the coveted trophy. MI have dominated RCB in the past having beaten them in as many as 17 of the 27 encounters between the two sides.

The match will witness a number of big hitters on both the sides locking horns with one another – the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Kieron Pollard, AB de Villiers, Hardik Pandya and Glenn Maxwell – and is expected to be a high scoring affair unless the spinner-friendly wicket at Chepauk dominates the course of play.

The match assumes more significance as the Covid-19 pandemic rages again all over the country. The BCCI would hope for a smooth start which would set the precedence and give a major boost for the remainder of the tournament.

Mumbai Indians

The most dominating and balanced unit of the last two editions – MI have all their bases covered – an in-from top order, a dependable middle-order, firepower in the lower-order, a world class fast bowling unit and some variety and experience in the spin department.

Quinton de Kock is still undergoing the mandatory seven-day quarantine and will not be available for the opening fixture. Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan are likely to open for MI. The captain’s personal form was the only weak link in the batting last season and he would look to make amends this year.

Hardik Pandya is expected to bat at number 4 and provide the impetus in the middle overs while Kieron Pollard will be the X-Factor at the death. It will be interesting to see whether Rohit plays both Piyush Chawla and Rahul Chahar in the XI or drafts in Jayant Yadav in place of one of the leg spinners.

Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult, the second and third-highest wicket-takers of IPL 2020 in the UAE, who bagged 52 wickets between them, will lead the pace attack.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

RCB have their most balanced team, at least on paper, for years in this edition. Virat Kohli will open the batting with the very impressive Devdutt Padikkal – the left-hander outscored both his skipper and AB de Villiers last season and was in magnificent form in the 2021 Vijay Hazare Trophy. He has recovered from Covid-19 and is expected to play on Friday. AB is likely to bat at number three but may be used as a floater depending on the start given by the openers.

The X-factor in the line-up is Glenn Maxwell, who despite having a woeful 2020 season for Punjab Kings (108 runs at a strike rate of 101.88) was picked by RCB for a whopping INR 14.25 crore. The franchise would hope for a big contribution from the maverick Australian all-rounder in the middle-order.

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• Chris Lynn
• Devdutt Padikkal
• Glenn Maxwell
• IPL 2021
• Kyle Jamieson
• marco jansen
• Rajat Patidar