Five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) will take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the IPL 2023 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on May 9. The Rohit Sharma-led side is coming off a comprehensive defeat at the hands of CSK, but they had won two consecutive games before the loss in Chennai so they will be looking to get back to winning against RCB. MI have so far won five and lost five of their ten games this season. They are currently sixth in the points table.
MI lost to RCB and CSK in their opening two games but then bounced back with three wins in a row against DC, KKR and SRH. They lost consecutive games against PBKS and defending champions GT. MI chased down 213 in a thrilling 1000th IPL match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. MI then put on a chasing master class as Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav's helped their side chase down 215 against PBKS. But last time out, MI batters were contained by a disciplined CSK side as Dhoni’s men ran out deserved winners by 6 wickets with more than 2 overs remaining.
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Tilak Varma has so far scored 274 runs at a strike rate of 158, but missed the last game due to illness and is expected to come back in if fit. Ishan Kishan has been in good form this season and has scored 293 runs so far. Skipper Rohit Sharma has scored only 184 runs in the 10 games so far. He is having another inconsistent season and has been heavily criticised by former cricketers, MI will hope that their talismanic captain can soon get back to his best and answer his critics in style. Cameron Green has scored 272 and SKY has also scored 293 runs so far this season.
{{/usCountry}}Tilak Varma has so far scored 274 runs at a strike rate of 158, but missed the last game due to illness and is expected to come back in if fit. Ishan Kishan has been in good form this season and has scored 293 runs so far. Skipper Rohit Sharma has scored only 184 runs in the 10 games so far. He is having another inconsistent season and has been heavily criticised by former cricketers, MI will hope that their talismanic captain can soon get back to his best and answer his critics in style. Cameron Green has scored 272 and SKY has also scored 293 runs so far this season.
{{/usCountry}}The MI bowlers have been expensive on quite a few occasions this season. Jofra Archer has only played five games so far and has scalped only two wickets going at almost ten runs an over. Jason Behrendorff and Riley Meredith have picked a combined 15 wickets between them so far but have conceded more than 10 runs an over. Meredith and Behrendorff have missed the last couple of games due to tactical or fitness reasons but at least one of them is expected to come back into the side for the upcoming game.
Piyush Chawla has been the surprise package for MI so far this season. The veteran spinner is the top wicket-taker for the side with 17 wickets so far at an economy of 7. Cameron Green has also chipped in with 5 wickets. Hrithik Shokeen and Arjun Tendulkar have chipped in with some important scalps too.
Arshad Khan has picked up five wickets this season but has been very expensive and could lose his place in the side. Akash Madhwal is expected to continue in the side, while one of Shokeen, Kartikeya and Raghav Goyal will be the second spinner alongside Chawla.
Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Arjun Tendulkar, Hrithik Shokeen or Sandeep Warrier could be Impact player options for MI.
MI's predicted XI vs RCB in IPL 2023:
Openers: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk).
Middle order: Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David.
All-rounders: Cameron Green.
Bowlers: Jofra Archer, Jason Behrendorff, Piyush Chawla, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal.
Impact Player: MI will rely on Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Arjun Tendulkar, Hrithik Shokeen or Sandeep Warrier as their Impact Player options.