IPL 2023, RCB vs MI: Faf elects to bowl
The Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Mumbai Indians will cross swords as they kick-start their Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign on April 2. RCB made it to the playoffs and was one match away from playing in the final last season. Meanwhile, MI for the first time finished with the wooden spoon.' RCB skipper Faf du Plessis has won the toss and will field.
Pitch report, timing, and broadcast details
The match will be played at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The pitch is very conducive for batting as the average run rate for teams batting first at the venue is 8.75. Even while chasing, the average run rate is 8.45. Star Sports will telecast the match on TV, fans can also live-stream it on JioCinema from 7:30 PM on Sunday (2nd April).
Here is the head-to-head record
The IPL heavyweights have met each other a total of 30 times. Out of which Mumbai is slightly ahead with 17 wins in comparison to RCB's 13. Last season, RCB won the only match they played against MI. Anuj Rawat scored a brilliant fifty as RCB went over the line in the 19th over. Wanindu Hasaranga and Harshal Patel finished with two wickets apiece.
Here are the key performers
Virat Kohli (6,624) is the highest run-getter in IPL history. Du Plessis was RCB's highest-scorer last season with 468 runs. Hasaranga was one of the only three bowlers last season to pick 20 wickets in the middle overs (7-15). Ishan Kishan was MI's highest-scorer last season with 418 runs. In 35 IPL matches, Jofra Archer has scalped 46 wickets with an economy of 7.13.
A look at the playing XIs
RCB's Playing XI: Faf Du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Michael Bracewell, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Harshal Patel, Reece Topley, Mohammed Siraj, Karn Sharma, and Akash Deep. MI's Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Verma, Suryakumar Yadav, Cameron Green, Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Hrithik Shokeen, Piyush Chawla, Jofra Archer, and Arshad Khan.
Rohit Sharma playing his 200th T20 match as captain
Rohit Sharma will be playing in his 200th T20 match as captain. He is the most successful captain in IPL, leading the MI to five titles. Rohit has captained MI in 144 matches, only behind MS Dhoni's tally of 211. He has won 79 matches and suffered 60 defeats and four ties. Rohit has a 56.64% win percentage in IPL.
