MI vs RCB Highlights, IPL 2021: Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Mumbai Indians by 2 wickets

Yuzvendra Chahal has replaced Kyle Jamieson. Surprise call from Virat Kohli. Thinking about Washington Sundar's record against Rohit, he could have also been given the ball here.

CHANCE! Rohit Sharma hits it over the fielder inside the circle, the fielder jumped up a bit too early. Siraj could have got the first breakthrough, but for now, it is a boundary to Mumbai Indians.

Kyle Jamieson is off to a great start with the new ball, just giving 2 more runs in it. Mumbai Indians are keeping things tight at the moment.

Mohammed Siraj got off to a fantastic start, just givign away 4 runs in teh first over. Here is Kyle Jamieson on the other end.

Chris Lynn, Rohit Sharma out to bat for Mumbai Indians. Mohammed Siraj starts the attack with the ball for Royal Challengers Bangalore. HERE WE GO!

With Devdutt Padikkal not playing, who will open the innings alongside Virat Kohli in this match?

Quinton de Kock is not playing because he is under quarantine much like most South Africa players.

Devdutt Padikkal is not playing because he just recovered from Covid-19 and the team does not want to rush him too early.

Rohit Sharma has been dismissed twice by Washington Sundar in five games. Sundar is likely to bowl in the powerplay overs this time as well. Could he get the Hitman this time around as well?

Here are the Mumbai Indians Playing XI in their first game of the season:

Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Chris Lynn, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan(w), Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Marco Jansen, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah

Here is the playing XI of Virat Kohli's RCB in the first game of the season:

Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Virat Kohli(c), Rajat Patidar, AB de Villiers(w), Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Christian, Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Shahbaz Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal

MI vs RCB stats attack:

· 149: Average 1st innings score at Chennai in IPL 2019 was 149.

· 1: Piyush Chawla is 1 match away from completing 250 matches across T20s.

· 1: Dhawal Kulkarni is 1 match away from completing 150 matches across T20s.

· 100: Yuzvendra Chahal is 1 match away from completing 100 matches in IPL.

· 200: Yuzvendra Chahal is 1 match away from completing 200 matches across T20s.

· 50: Suryakumar Yadav is 1 match away from completing 50 matches for Mumbai Indians across leagues (IPL+CLT20).

· 4: Kieron Pollard is 4 fours away from completing 200 fours in IPL.

· 2: Kieron Pollard is 2 sixes away from completing 200 sixes in IPL.

· 14: Hardik Pandya is 14 fours away from completing 100 fours in IPL.

· 7: Hardik Pandya is 7 sixes away from completing 100 sixes in IPL.

· 50: Hardik Pandya is 1 catch away from completing 50 catches in IPL.

· 50: Ishan Kishan is 4 catches away from completing 50 catches across T20s.

· 1000: Ishan Kishan is 108 runs away from completing 1,000 runs for Mumbai Indians in IPL.

· 150: Dhawal Kulkarni is 3 wickets away from completing 150 wickets across T20s.

· 2: Saurabh Tiwary is 2 sixes away from completing 50 sixes in IPL.

· 5: Krunal Pandya is 5 fours away from completing 100 fours in IPL.

· 10: Krunal Pandya is 10 sixes away from completing 50 sixes in IPL.

· 4: Krunal Pandya is 4 wickets away from completing 50 wickets in IPL.

· 8: James Neesham is 8 sixes away from completing 100 sixes across T20s.

· 3: James Neesham is 3 catches away from completing 50 catches across T20s.

· 151: AB de Villiers is 151 runs away from completing 5,000 runs in IPL.

· 10: AB de Villiers is 10 fours away from completing 400 fours in IPL.

· 15: AB de Villiers is 15 sixes away from completing 250 sixes in IPL.

· 50: Harshal Patel is 2 wickets away from completing 50 wickets in IPL.

· 13: Glenn Maxwell is 13 sixes away from completing 350 sixes across T20s.

· 9: Glenn Maxwell is 9 sixes away from completing 100 sixes in IPL.

· 1: Navdeep Saini is 1 wicket away from completing 50 wickets across T20s.

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma: "Would've fielded first as well. But as a team we've batted well over the years. Nothing different for us. Bat well in the powerplay and set the game up for the big hitters. The entire square has been changed. Recently played a couple of Tests. Need to do what we do as a team, put our best foot forward. For us it's a fresh year, don't need to look at what's happened in the past. Fresh year, new faces as well. Important for us to start well which we haven;t done in this tournament. Last game we played was a final in Dubai. Got only two changes from that lineup. Quinny is in quarantine, so he isn't available. Lynn will make debut. And we have a six foot eight inch South African, Marco Jensen."

RCB captain Virat Kohli: "It's unbelievable, bit of a mini break helped me I guess to win a toss. Going to bowl first. They're a side who likes chasing. Good chance for us to get onto the park and create some intensity. With the balance we have this year we can do both, but have to understand who you're playing against. We understand with the depth they have they have never out of the game. Bowling first was a no-brainer for us. Every year IPL has a different energy, a different vibe. It's high intensity. Playing for the same franchise has been an honour for me. Loyalty is a big thing for me. Dubai was great as well but this just feels like home. Great feeling to be playing in our stadiums and for people to watch in our prime times. Three guys making their debut: Maxwell, Jamieson, Christian is back after eight years for the same franchise. Padikkal misses out, Rajat Patidar gets a debut."

Virat Kohli wins toss, Royal Challengers Bangalore elect to bowl against Mumbai Indians in IPL 2021 season-opener.

L Sivaramakrishnan and Danny Morrison give the pitch report on Star Sports and Disney+Hotstar: "When I look at this ground, feels deceptively small but it isn't. Test match pitch was totally different. This one looks a lot better. New ball will come on to the bat nicely, but the problem will arrive once the ball gets old. Once the spinners come into play, there will be a lot of deviation."

The toss between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians will take place in five minutes! ARE YOU READY!!?

Marco Jensen, the 20-year-old cricketer could be making his surprise debut today.

With Quinton de Kock currently serving his quarantine period, Chris Lynn will open for Mumbai. He receives his MI cap -- as it will be his first game for the franchise.

The toss between Rohit Sharma's Mumbai Indians and Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore will take place in about 20 minutes. ARE YOU READY!!!!

After a smashing success as an opener in the 5th T20I against England, RCB captain Virat Kohli expressed desire to open in the IPL. Will he be following the same strategy today? And who will be his opening partner if Devdutt Padikkal is unfit to play?

Wondering where to watch all the live action of India Premier League 2021 when Mumbai Indians take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in the opening game of the IPL 2021? We got you sorted!

MI vs RCB Match Live Streaming: When and where to watch IPL 2021

• RCB’s 37.04% success rate against MI is the 2nd worst for them against any team, only after their record against CSK

• Chahal is the only spinner in RCB squad who has played an IPL game in Chennai. His economy rate at the venue is 5.25.

• Mi’s top order has struggled at Chepauk, as their strike rate see a dip at the venue. Ishan Kishan (90.32), Rohit Sharma (119.69) and Suryakumar Yadav (108.75) all have their strike rates lower than their current strike rates in the tournament.

(Source: Cricbuzz)

Wondering what are the full squads of MI vs RCB? We got you sorted.

Squads:

Royal Challengers Bangalore Squad: Virat Kohli(c), Devdutt Padikkal, AB de Villiers(w), Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Daniel Christian, Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kane Richardson, Harshal Patel, Adam Zampa, Sachin Baby, Srikar Bharat, Pavan Deshpande, Rajat Patidar, Finn Allen, Suyash Prabhudessai, Shahbaz Ahmed

Mumbai Indians Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Piyush Chawla, Dhawal Kulkarni, Saurabh Tiwary, Aditya Tare, Adam Milne, Chris Lynn, Jayant Yadav, Anmolpreet Singh, Quinton de Kock, Anukul Roy, Mohsin Khan, Arjun Tendulkar, Marco Jansen, Yudhvir Singh

Kieron Pollard, who had struck six sixes in the T20 match against Sri Lanka last month, can join the IPL 200 club. He needs two more sixes in IPL to become only the sixth player to reach the 200-mark in the T20 tournament.

100: Hardik Pandya is 7 sixes away from completing 100 sixes in IPL.

• 50: Hardik Pandya is 1 catch away from completing 50 catches in IPL.

• 50: Ishan Kishan is 4 catches away from completing 50 catches across T20s.

• 1000: Ishan Kishan is 108 runs away from completing 1,000 runs for Mumbai Indians in IPL.

• 250: Quinton de Kock is 5 sixes away from completing 250 sixes across T20s.

• 2000: Quinton de Kock is 41 runs away from completing 2,000 runs in IPL.

• 50: Quinton de Kock is 1 catch away from completing 50 catches in IPL.

• 100: Quinton de Kock is 24 sixes away from completing 100 sixes in IPL.

• 100: Quinton de Kock is 9 fours away from completing 100 fours for Mumbai Indians in IPL.

• 50: Quinton de Kock is 3 sixes away from completing 50 sixes for Mumbai Indians in IPL.

• 0: Chris Lynn did not get a single game in IPL 2020.

• 150: Dhawal Kulkarni is 3 wickets away from completing 150 wickets across T20s.

• 50: Saurabh Tiwary is 2 sixes away from completing 50 sixes in IPL.

• 100: Krunal Pandya is 5 fours away from completing 100 fours in IPL.

• 50: Krunal Pandya is 10 sixes away from completing 50 sixes in IPL.

• 50: Krunal Pandya is 4 wickets away from completing 50 wickets in IPL.

• 100: James Neesham is 8 sixes away from completing 100 sixes across T20s.

• 50: James Neesham is 3 catches away from completing 50 catches across T20s.

• 50: Aditya Tare is 2 catches away from completing 50 catches across T20s.

• 50: Aditya Tare is 10 fours away from completing 50 fours in IPL.

• Virat Kohli is the leading run-scorer in IPL.

• 50: Sachin Baby is 4 sixes away from completing 50 sixes across T20s.

• 2017: Sachin Baby last played a match in IPL in 2017, representing RCB.

• 5000: AB de Villiers is 151 runs away from completing 5,000 runs in IPL.

• 400: AB de Villiers is 10 fours away from completing 400 fours in IPL.

• 250: AB de Villiers is 15 sixes away from completing 250 sixes in IPL.

• 50: Harshal Patel is 2 wickets away from completing 50 wickets in IPL.

• 350: Glenn Maxwell is 13 sixes away from completing 350 sixes across T20s.

• 100: Glenn Maxwell is 9 sixes away from completing 100 sixes in IPL.

• 50: Navdeep Saini is 1 wicket away from completing 50 wickets across T20s.

• 2016: Kane Richardson last played a match in IPL in 2016.

• 50: Trent Boult is 2 matches away from completing 50 matches in IPL.

• 100: Yuzvendra Chahal is 2 matches away from completing 100 matches for RCB in IPL.

• 50: Harshal Patel is 2 matches away from completing 50 matches in IPL.

• 50: KS Bharat is 2 matches away from completing 50 matches across T20s.

• 50: Suryakumar Yadav is 3 matches away from completing 50 matches for Mumbai Indians in IPL.

• 100: Ishan Kishan is 3 matches away from completing 100 matches across T20s.

• 250: Daniel Christian is 3 matches away from completing 250 matches across T20s.

• 150: James Neesham is 7 matches away from completing 150 matches across T20s.

• 200: Virat Kohli is 8 matches away from completing 200 matches in IPL.

• 150: AB de Villiers is 8 matches away from completing 150 matches for RCB across leagues (IPL+CPLT20).

• 100: Jasprit Bumrah is 8 matches away from completing 100 matches in IPL.

• 100: Washington Sundar is 8 matches away from completing 100 matches across T20s.

• 50: Kyle Jamieson is 8 matches away from completing 50 matches across T20s.

• 150: AB de Villiers is 9 matches away from completing 150 matches for RCB in IPL.

• 50: Chis Lynn is 9 matches away from completing 50 matches in IPL.

• 100: Dhawal Kulkarni is 9 matches away from completing 100 matches in IPL.

• 150: Rohit Sharma is 10 matches away from completing 150 matches as captain across T20s.

o He can become the 5th captain with 150+ matches as captain across T20s.

Here is our list of RCB's Predicted XI against MI:

RCB Predicted XI vs MI: Virat Kohli (C), Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar / Mohammed Azharuddeen, AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, Washington Sundar, Daniel Christian, Kyle Jamieson, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini

Hope you all have fixed your Dream XI teams sorted by now? If not, take a look at our predicted Xi for Mumbai Indians for tonight's encounter:

MI Predicted XI vs RCB: Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter Nile, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar

Total number of matches played: 29

Matches won by MI: 19

Matches won by RCB: 10

Matched played in India: 23 (MI 16, RCB 7)

Matches played outside India: 6 (MI 3, RCB 3)

MI average score against RCB: 166

RCB average score against MI: 159

Most runs for MI: 539 (Kieron Pollard)

Most runs for RCB: 695 (Virat Kohli)

Most wickets for MI: 19 (Jasprit Bumrah)

Most wickets for RCB: 19 (Yuzvendra Chahal)

Most catches for MI: 12 (Kieron Pollard)

Most catches for RCB: 12 (Virat Kohli)

Source: SportsRush

RCB captain Virat Kohli said at virtual press conference: "Having done well last year in such a competitive scenario and space, we're very confident that as a side, with a stronger squad this time around, we'll have another great season. Just playing in set venues with four teams, I think that's going to nullify all the home advantage that every team used to have."

Matches Played: 27

MI Won: 17

RCB Won: 9

Tied: 1 (RCB won the following Super Over)

149: Average 1st innings score at Chennai in IPL 2019 was 149.

• 10/17: Team batting 1st won 10 out of 17 matches at Chennai in IPL 2019.

• 250: Piyush Chawla is 1 match away from completing 250 matches across T20s.

• 150: Dhawal Kulkarni is 1 match away from completing 150 matches across T20s.

• 100: Yuzvendra Chahal is 1 match away from completing 100 matches in IPL.

• 200: Yuzvendra Chahal is 1 match away from completing 200 matches across T20s.

• 50: Suryakumar Yadav is 1 match away from completing 50 matches for Mumbai Indians across leagues

(IPL+CLT20).

• 7: Rohit Sharma is 7 matches away from completing 350 matches across T20s.

• 800: Rohit Sharma is 3 fours away from completing 800 fours across T20s.

o He can become the 3

rd Indian with 800+ fours across T20s after Virat Kohli (858) and Shikhar Dhawan

(915) and 10th overall.

• 400: Rohit Sharma is 14 sixes away from completing 400 sixes across T20s.

o He can become the 1st Indian with 400+ sixes across T20s and 7th overall.

• 50: With one more defeat as captain, Rohit Sharma will have 50 outright defeats across T20s as captain.

o Including TIED+L, Rohit Sharma has already 51 defeats as captain in T20s.

o He can become the 14th captain with 50 outright defeats as captain in T20s and 4

th Indian captain after MS

Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir.

• 400: Rohit Sharma is 20 fours away from completing 400 fours for Mumbai Indians across league (IPL+CLT20).

• 400: Rohit Sharma is 38 fours away from completing 400 fours for Mumbai Indians in IPL.

• 2: Rohit Sharma is the 2nd captain in IPL history to win back-to-back IPL after MS Dhoni in 2010 & 2011.

o Rohit Sharma is also the 1st captain to win back-to-back IPL in different countries.

• 200: Kieron Pollard is 4 fours away from completing 200 fours in IPL.

• 200: Kieron Pollard is 2 sixes away from completing 200 sixes in IPL.

• 100: Hardik Pandya is 14 fours away from completing 100 fours in IPL.

Hello and welcome to our live blog of MI vs RCB in IPL 2021, and oh boy, could you have asked for any other exciting contest? These are two of the best teams -- but while one has won five titles -- the other, so far, is yet to win one. MI do not have the best track records when it comes to winning their first games of the season, so yeah -- anything can happen this year, folks. Catch all the live action right here!