The opening match of IPL 2021 sees the greatest team in Indian Premier League history taking on the superstar of Indian cricket as the Mumbai Indians begin their title defence against the underachievers of Royal Challengers Bangalore.
These two sides are equipped with the sort of firepower that would suggest anything other than a title win would be a disappointment so both teams will be looking to get off to a winning start to assist that quest here.
Mumbai Indians
The Mumbai Indians have put to bed the debate over whether they or the Chennai Super Kings have been the greatest team in IPL history over the last couple of year as they have raced to successive titles and were they to make it three in a row it would be one of the best achievements in all of franchise cricket despite their relatively recent arrival onto the cricketing landscape. Given the shorter turnaround between seasons you would think that Mumbai are even more likely to go well this term.
While the Indians are good at winning titles, they are not so good at getting off to a good start. They have lost their last eight opening matches in the Indian Premier League, including to the Chennai Super Kings last season who barely won a match after that. That is something which will niggle at them but the mantra to these elite franchise events is that it is how you finish them rather than how you start them and it serves little to no purpose to peak early.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
When you consider the personnel that has been available to them since the start of the Indian Premier League, it remains one of cricket’s biggest mysteries that they have yet to get their hands on the title. They seem to be a much better side away from the tiny surroundings of their home ground in Bangalore so the fact they play no matches there might be a help to them this term, as it was in the UAE last season, but the auction took place when they were expecting to have a home campaign so they recruited with that in mind.
Chennai shouldn’t necessarily faze them too much though because if anything through recent times it has been their spin bowlers which have been their better weapon and they will get all the assistance they need here. The Royal Challengers have once again loaded their squad with explosive firepower with the bat though and whether conditions will suit them is another thing entirely. Someone will need to bat smart to allow that firepower the freedom it needs.
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Key Men
Given that Quinton de Kock is in quarantine for this first match you get the impression that Ishan Kishan is going to be a big player for the Mumbai Indians. He showed all of his qualities in the recent series against England and if he gets on top of the Bangalore bowling it will go a long way towards winning the match.
Virat Kohli is expected to open the batting for the Royal Challengers Bangalore and it will be interesting to see if that is a tactic so that he can bat through and anchor the innings to allow the likes of AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell the freedom to explode at the other end. If it is then clearly he needs to bat deep into the innings.
Betting
That statistic about the Mumbai Indians losing their last eight season openers can’t be a coincidence given how long it spans over so there has to be something in it. They might struggle here for a couple of reasons. Firstly they are missing a key part of their unit in Quinton de Kock and secondly I’m not convinced they are built for Chennai conditions given that the foundation of their side is pace and swing with the ball and brute force with the bat.
It isn’t completely ideal that the Royal Challengers Bangalore will be without the quarantining Adam Zampa here but in Glenn Maxwell, Washington Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal they are not exactly devoid of spin options. They also have good players of spin with the bat so they look the better suited to these conditions which has to count for something. The fact Devdutt Padikkal has joined up with the squad is a positive as well so the Royal Challengers might be getting the Indians at the right time and are a nice price to win the opener.
Tips
WON – Back Royal Challengers Bangalore to beat Mumbai Indians for a 3/10 stake at 2.25 with Coral
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