IPL 2021: 3 Reasons Why Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Can Win The Season Opener Against Mumbai Indians(MI)

In Search of their first IPL title, The Royal Challengers Bangalore will begin their IPL campaign against the defending champions Mumbai Indians to kickstart the season. Royal Challengers Bangalore entered the playoffs last year and finished fourth owing to some good performances.

The template is set to be followed this year when RCB gets underway in the season and they will have to get over a tough Mumbai Side who have been phenomenal. The two teams will be up against each other for the 30th time and RCB will have an opportunity to better their record against MI. Here are 3 reasons why Royal Challengers Bangalore win the season opener against the Mumbai Indians.

3 Reasons Why RCB Can Win The Season Opener Against MI:

Change In Home Venue:

Bangalore will not be playing in their home stadium which could see a great fortune change for them. Over the years, Bangalore has one of those sides that haven’t enjoyed the home advantage particularly. They have won one of the worst win percentages in home games among the eight franchises and they will be happy to be not playing in Bangalore.

On the other hand, the small grounds have been a nightmare for the bowlers and the pandemic might have been a blessing in disguise for them. They did very well last year in 2020 IPL in UAE and considering they have two good spinners in Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar, it could be a different ball game in the first match of the IPL 2021

Strong Top Order:

Virat Kohli and AB Devilliers are two of the best match-winners in world cricket and they will be setting up the tone for the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Daniel Christian to make full use of the end overs. Devdutt Padikkal had an excellent IPL last season and he has been in great form in the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy too.

Kohli is expected to open alongside Padikkal and they will be followed by the likes of AB at three and Maxwell at four which looks to be a dangerous top four. If RCB can bring in some useful contributions at five and six, then the batting will be sorted which will be a major boost for them. Virat Kohli is one of the best players in the world and if he can stay around for a long time, RCB’s total is expected to go up.

Mumbai’s Poor Record In Season Opener:

Mumbai has the last eight season openers which is a very surprising factor considering the excellent record they have overall. They haven’t been able to get over the line from the 2013 edition and have ended up on the losing side continuously for the last eight years which is something RCB can take note of.

Interestingly, RCB initiated the first loss for Mumbai in a season opener in 2013 IPL and they will be looking into it for some positivity ahead of the first game. Mumbai will be wondering how they could break the jinx, but the odds have been in favor of the opponents in the season opener and RCB should look to exploit it.