IPL 2018: Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma Will Decide the Fate of Today's Game - Viv Richards

Former Windies legend, Sir Viv Richards, feels the skipper of both the teams, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will decide the fate of the all-important clash between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI) on Tuesday in Bangalore.

Meanwhile, both the teams will square off at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on May 1 (Tuesday). Moreover, both the teams are languishing at the bottom half of the table and will look to change things quickly.

Defending champions Mumbai Indians sit at the sixth place, followed by Royal Challengers Bangalore at seventh. Both the teams have won two games so far. However, Mumbai have a better net run-rate under their belt.

Moreover, it will be an interesting clash with both the team wanting to be in the hunt for the playoffs.

Virat and Rohit to decide the fate

Observing the league very closely, the Windies legend feels Kohli or Rohit will determine the outcome of this game. Both the batsmen have done well in bits and pieces but have failed to bring success.

“We are half-way through IPL 11 and the four teams that make up the bottom half of the table are looking to turn things around. Mumbai and Bangalore have brilliant teams on paper, but the ball hasn’t seemed to stick for either of them just yet. In a must-win match for both teams, it will be interesting to see what this encounter holds and how the two smashing Indian skippers will leave their mark,” Richards wrote in TOI.

Richards also added Bangalore needs to sort their bowling worries in the death overs to change track. He also noted RCB have failed to do the basics right which have hurt them.

“Failure of getting the basics right has definitely cost Virat and his men a number of games, just as dropping an easy catch of [Chris] Lynn deprived them of a win in the previous match,” he added.

Bowling is as important as batting in T20

In an IPL season in which several lesser-known bowlers have made heads turn, and where teams with varied bowling attacks have succeeded the most, it is Sunrisers Hyderabad which has impressed Richards the most.

The swashbuckling West Indian legend picked out SRH as the team with the most potent bowling resources.

“Bowling is as important as batting in T20 cricket, changing the perception since its origin, as we have seen with Hyderabad this season. SRH seems to be the master defenders and winners of a lot of the low scoring games with Rashid Khan and Siddarth Kaul picking up wickets in every match. The Sunrisers bowling this season has been a happy surprise, which will hopefully give them more victories,” Richards concluded.