RHODRI EVANS: The Cricketer takes a look at the next fixture in the 2022 Indian Premier League season
Rajasthan Royals take on Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.
The match will be played on Saturday, April 30 with the first ball being bowled at 7.30pm local time (3pm GMT).
The teams will face off at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai.
Rajasthan have won their last three and sit second in the IPL league after a couple of poor performances against the competition’s new boys, Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants.
Recent matches have seen the variety of RR’s bowling attack take the plaudits.
Against RCB, it was Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Sen; Delhi Capitals were dismantled by Prasidh Krishna; and they had purple cap holder Yuzvendra Chahal to thank against Kolkata Knight Riders, as he took a five-for.
On the batting front, Jos Buttler has been the star of the competition and is looking to equal Virat Kohli’s record of four IPL hundreds in one campaign.
Shimron Hetmyer and captain Sanju Samson have provided able support and clean hitting alongside Buttler’s controlled aggression to great success for the Royals.
Mumbai Indians’ IPL campaign could not have been more different. Eight losses from eight matches is a dismal return for the five-time champions and they were comfortably beaten by RR in the reverse fixture on April 2.
Perhaps the only ray of sunlight is the form of 19-year-old prodigy Talik Varma, who hit 61 from 33 balls against Rajasthan and top-scored in their last two matches against CSK and LSG.
Varma finds himself sandwiched between overseas IPL legend Faf du Plessis and David Warner in eighth on the list of IPL top run-scorers.
Ravichandran Ashwin (BCCI)
Buttler has hit five T20 hundreds in his last 25 innings in the format. In each of them, he played out the team’s most dangerous bowler and attacked the rest.
In the reverse fixture between Rajasthan and Mumbai, Buttler gave Bumrah a wide berth while taking down the likes of Daniel Sams, Tymal Mills, and Kieron Pollard.
Tune on for the powerplay to watch the world’s best white-ball bowler throw everything he’s got at the world’s best white-ball batter. Elsewhere, Mumbai’s navigation of the Royals’ spin twins – Ashwin and Chahal will be decisive in the MI innings.
Matches played: 28
Rajasthan Royals wins: 13
Mumbai Indians wins: 14
No results: 1
A warm day is expected in Mumbai, with highs of 34 degrees Celsius, falling to 31 degrees by first ball of the match.
Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, R Ashwin, Trent Boult, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Riyan Parag, KC Cariappa, Navdeep Saini, Obed McCoy, Anunay Singh, Kuldeep Sen, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel, Tejas Baroka, Kuldip Yadav, Shubham Garhwal, Jimmy Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rassie van der Dussen, Daryl Mitchell
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Ishan Kishan, Dewald Brevis, Basil Thampi, Murugan Ashwin, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, N Tilak Varma, Sanjay Yadav, Jofra Archer, Daniel Sams, Tymal Mills, Tim David, Riley Meredith, Mohammad Arshad Khan, Anmolpreet Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Rahul Buddhi, Hrithik Shokeen, Arjun Tendulkar, Aryan Juyal, Fabian Allen
Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Obed McCoy, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hrithik Shokeen, Kieron Pollard, Daniel Sams, Jaydev Unadkat, Riley Meredith, Jasprit Bumrah.
Kieron Pollard (BCCI)
The bookies make Rajasthan Royals favourites for this match with 4/5 odds. MI are evens (1/1) to win tomorrow.
The bookies are spot on their recommendation of RR as favourites. Having lost eight from eight, it is hard to see where Mumbai’s next win comes from. What a fall from grace for what was one of the great T20 teams.
Shorn of the Pandya brothers, Quinton de Kock, Trent Boult after the mega auction, and with Suraykumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, and captain Rohit Sharma all badly out of form, the only senior player to perform at their level this edition is Jasprit Bumrah.
In the UK, Sky Sports have exclusive rights to this year's tournament, with matches available on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket.
Fans in India can watch all of the action on Star Sports.
Elsewhere in the world, viewers in Australia can watch the IPL on Fox Sports while in New Zealand, Sky Sport will provide coverage.
Willow TV and Flow Sports will broadcast the tournament in the United States and the Caribbean, respectively.
Fans in MENA can catch the action on beIN Sports while in South Africa, SuperSport have the rights.
The IPL can also be streamed on Disney+ and Hotstar in certain areas.
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