Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals Match Preview- IPL 2024, Match 14

The Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals (MI vs RR) IPL 2024 match is the first home game for Mumbai Indians and the first away game for Rajasthan Royals. MI have lost both their games so far while the Royals won both of theirs.

Date and Venue

The MI vs RR IPL 2024 match will be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 1, Monday from 7.30 pm IST. Mumbai Indians have won four of the last five games against Rajasthan Royals. Mumbai are ahead by 15-12 in the head-to-head count.

Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals Match Preview- IPL 2024, Match 14

Mumbai Indians

Very traditionally, the Mumbai Indians started their campaign with a loss against Gujarat Titans. They lost their second game against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The match saw the most runs being scored in the IPL (525). Mi responded to SRH’s total of 277 and scored 246 in the chase.

The losses came down to how skipper Hardik Pandya led the side and used his strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah. There were talks about Bumrah being underused by Hardik who used himself in the initial overs.

Piyush Chawla is the only experienced spinner for Mumbai Indians. The absence of another good spinner who could have supported Chawla is another major disadvantage for MI.

Heading into this game, They might continue to miss Surtakumar Yadav who is still recovering from the Sports hernia surgery that he recently had. The BCCI official as per reports said that he might miss a few more games.

With already two losses to start with, this match becomes a must-win game for them at home. A loss at home will make things difficult for Mumbai Indians.

MI Squad

Rohit Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, N. Tilak Varma, Tim David, Vishnu Vinod, Arjun Tendulkar, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera, Jasprit Bumrah, Kumar Kartikeya, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Jason Behrendorff, Romario Shepherd, Hardik Pandya (c), Gerald Coetzee, Dilshan Madushanka, Shreyas Gopal, Nuwan Thushara, Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Mohammad Nabi, Shivalik Sharma.

Also Read: Watch: Mohammed Siraj forced to clap for Shreyas Iyer after getting smashed for incredible six in IPL 2024

Rajasthan Royals

The core of the side has performed well. While it was expected for them to step up, the rise of Riyan Parag in the previous game was a welcoming sign for the team.

He scored an unbeaten 84 and followed it up with his brilliant 43 in the first game. With him getting runs. the batting order looks even stronger with Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, and Riyan Parag in the top three.

The bowling attack has plenty of variations with Sandeep Sharma coming into the bowl after the first 10 overs and Trent Boult on most occasions completing his quota by the 15 overs. Avesh Khan defended 17 off the final over against DC to show his class as a bowler.

He was traded ahead of the season from LSG. In Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin, the Royals perhaps have the best spin twins in the tournament. After CSK, they are looking for the most complete team in the tournament.

RR Squad

Sanju Samson (c), Jos Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Donovan Ferreira, Kunal Rathore, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Sen, Navdeep Saini, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Sharma, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa, Avesh Khan, Rovman Powell, Shubham Dubey, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Abid Mushtaq, Nandre Burger.

Key Battles

Rohit Sharma vs Trent Boult

Rohit will open the batting and face his former Mumbai Indians teammate Trent Boult. The left-arm pacer was dismissed just once in the IPL back in 2018. Rohit has scored 17 off 17 balls against him.

Hardik Pandya vs Yuzvendra Chahal

Pandya has been dismissed by Chahal thrice in the IPL. The MI skipper has scored 58 runs off 62 balls against him. Skipper Hardik will bat in the final overs and Chahal has been backed by Samson to bowl at the death as well.

Ishan Kishan – Tim David vs Ravichandran Ashwin

David and Kishan both bog-hitters will face the wily Ravichandran Ashwin in the match. How this battle pans out will be interesting to watch.

Key Players

For RR, the top four batters, Jaiswal. Buttler, Samsona, and Parag are key with Hetmyer and Powell to follow as the big hitters. With the ball, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Ravichandran Ashwin are key.

For MI, Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, and skipper Hardik in the absence of SKY are the key batters. With the ball, they do not have too many options and thus Bumrah and Piyush Chawla are key.

Weather and Pitch

The weather conditions for the MI vs RR IPL 2024 match are expected to be hot and humid. The temperatures will be around 26 degrees in the evening with no sign of any rain. The humidity will be around 65 percent. The impact of dew will be an interesting observation.

Speaking about the Wankhede pitch, it has always been a batting-friendly wicket. 200-plus totals have been consistently posted and chased down in previous IPL seasons.

This being the first match of the season at this venue, how much the team batting first put up will be key. Playing at home, how Hardik Pandya leads the Mi bowling attack will also be key.

Conclusion

As said earlier, Mumbai Indians are still winless in the season while the Royals have won both their games. MI have won four out of the last five games against the Royals and also won six out of the 10 games against RR at home. However, heading into this game, they will be under pressure to turn their campaign around.

Also Read: Aakash Chopra attacks Virat Kohli and hails Gautam Gambhir for this act