IPL 2022: Mumbai Indians Eye Better Bowling Against Rajasthan Royals After Losing Against DC (Match Preview)

Five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians will be seeking better bowling returns when they go up against a confident Rajasthan Royals in their second match of IPL 2022 at the DY Patil Stadium here on Saturday.

Both teams head into their second match of the championship with contrasting results in their first match. While Mumbai were stunned by Delhi Capitals in a late come-from-behind performance by Lalit Yadav and Axar Patel, Rajasthan buried Sunrisers Hyderabad under a heap of runs and eventually won by 61 runs.

Mumbai will again be looking at Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan to give them a good start. Kishan was impressive in blazing his way to an unbeaten 81 against Delhi. Their middle-order batting has been given a huge boost by the return of flamboyant batter Suryakumar Yadav, who is available for selection after missing the opener against Delhi due to a hairline fracture in the thumb.

What Mumbai will be mainly concerned about is their bowling. After having reduced Delhi to 104/6, Mumbai were unable to take out either Yadav or Patel as they were unable to defend 177. With Rajasthan's bowling unit comprising Jasprit Bumrah, Basil Thampi, Daniel Sams, Murugan Ashwin and Tymal Mills has its task cut out in dismissing the batters early. Bumrah and Sams went wicketless against Delhi and will be itching to bounce back against Rajasthan.

Bowling is an area where Mumbai's director of cricket Zaheer Khan had touched upon. "We usually have been slow starters but I am happy with the way plans are working and how everyone has been approaching this year. You will definitely see that change in coming games. The first game was good learning for us. CCI is not an easy wicket for bowlers, 200+ was chased down even yesterday. So, it was not an easy day for the bowlers. But we are right on the money in terms of planning and prep."

On the other hand, Rajasthan became the first team in IPL 2022 to win by batting first. This was possible due to the top five of Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, captain Sanju Samson, Devdutt Padikkal and Shimron Hetmyer clicking together. Samson impressed the most with his 55 as Rajasthan feasted on the freebies served by Hyderabad's bowlers.

Their bowlers, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal were right on target against Hyderabad.

Rajasthan's bowling attack has the riches which can make every team feel envious, something which head coach and director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara feels lucky about.

"It's always nice to have the ability of such high quality in your attack. To have them available throughout is another great plus. The bowling and batting equally make a huge impact in T20 cricket, especially on flat wickets. So, it's a real confidence booster to have that bowling strength always present."

But Rajasthan will be thinking of bringing in James Neesham or Daryl Mitchell to replace Nathan Coulter-Nile, who may not be fit for the clash if not recovered from an injury sustained against Hyderabad in time. With Rajasthan having achieved success against Mumbai in past matches, one can expect the clash between the two heavyweights to be an exciting affair with fireworks aplenty.

Squads:

• Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (C), Ishan Kishan (wk), Anmolpreet Singh, Rahul Buddhi, Ramandeep Singh, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Tilak Verma, Tim David, Arjun Tendulkar, Basil Thampi, Hrithik Shokeen, Jasprit Bumrah, Jaydev Unadkat, Jofra Archer, Mayank Markande, Murugan Ashwin, Riley Meredith, Tymal Mills, Arshad Khan, Daniel Sams, Dewald Brevis, Fabian Allen, Sanjay Yadav and Aryan Juyal.
• Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Jos Buttler (wk), Rassie Van der Dussen, Nathan Coulter Nile, Jimmy Neesham, Daryl Mitchell, Karun Nair, Obed McCoy, Navdeep Saini, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shubham Garwal, Dhruv Jurel, Kuldip Yadav, Kuldeep Sen, Tejas Baroka, Anunay Singh and KC Kariappa.