Mumbai Indians (MI) and Rajasthan Royals(RR)will be taking on each other in the 14th match of the IPL 2024. It will be the first home game for Mumbai Indians (MI) in the season as they will be playing at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The 5-time champions Mumbai Indians are yet to win a match in the ongoing league. While they have been competitive in both matches, the win has seemed to be reaching out of their hands. On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals have had a good tournament till now.
The IPL 2024 fixture between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) is scheduled to be played on Monday, April 1 and the game promises to be an absolute cracker of a game. The two teams have witnessed contrasting fortunes at the start of their respective IPL 2024 campaigns.
Previous matches performances of Mumbai Indians (MI) and Rajasthan Royals(RR)
Mumbai Indians tend to start IPL seasons slowly and build serious momentum heading into the business end. Rajasthan Royals tend to go the opposite way. Because of this, contests between these two teams, especially at the Wankhede Stadium, tend to assume season-defining significance. You’ll remember Rahul Dravid flinging his cap away in 2014, or Tim David going 6, 6, 6 off Jason Holder last year.
It’s still early in IPL 2024, but there’s a sense of déjà vu about the build-up to this contest. Royals have begun with two wins on the bounce, and Mumbai with two defeats.
You expect Mumbai to kick into gear soon enough, given the strength of their squad, and in a season dominated by home teams it will no doubt help them to be back in the warm, fuzzy environs of the Wankhede (new captain Hardik Pandya will especially be hoping the atmosphere is something of the sorts).
They will be telling themselves they should have probably beaten Gujarat Titans in their season-opener, and will take encouragement from how much of a scare they gave Sunrisers Hyderabad while attempting to chase down a ludicrous 278.
Royals, for their part, have picked up two gratifying wins, with their middle order and death bowlers particularly impressive in bat-first displays against Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals where they prevailed despite being put under pressure. They haven’t yet met an opposition with the hitting firepower of Mumbai, though, and that could potentially test the depth of both their bowling and, in particular, their batting – and, in relation to this, their Impact Player strategy.
These are two good teams, then, both with the potential to go deep in the tournament. You can’t read too much into their results at this stage, though Mumbai, for all their history of coming back from poor starts, will desperately want to avoid a third defeat in a row.
Both teams have some of the best players in the world. While RR has the likes of Yashaswi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Nandre Burger, Trent Boult, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Yuzvendra Chahal in their lineup, MI features the likes of Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Tim David, Jasprit Bumrah, Gerald Coetzee, and many other talented players in their lineup. That promises to be a great match between the two sides.
MI vs RR Head to Head (Past 5 matches)
2023 – MI won by 6 wickets
2022 – MI won by 5 wickets
2022 – RR won by 23 runs
2021 – MI won by 8 wickets
2021 – MI won by 7 wickets
On the overall figures Mumbai and Rajasthan have played only 28 IPL matches so far. MI have won 15 of those and Rajasthan 12. One match between the two ended in a tie. Mumbai’s highest total against RR so far is 214, and Rajasthan’s highest score against MI is 212
MI vs RR Team News
Mumbai Indians
Mumbai have already used 14 players this season, with entirely different impact ins and outs in their two games so far. This was in part down to a niggle ruling Luke Wood out of their game against Sunrisers – expect him to return in place of Kwena Maphaka if he’s fit again.
Rajasthan Royals
Similar circumstances – toss, match situation – led Royals to stick to the same combination in their first two games. If they require a batter as an impact sub, Rovman Powell is likely to play that role.
MI vs RR Pitch Report.
The match is set to take place at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai which is one of the flattest wickets in the world. It is good for batting due to the nature of the wicket and small boundaries. Pacers do get some early swing and the spinners might get some turn. But the batters would be able to counter it and dominate the proceedings. Chasing might be the best option considering the dew factor.
The Wankhede (run rate of 10.14) was the fastest-scoring ground in IPL 2023. It was the fastest-scoring ground when the fast bowlers operated (10.99) and the second-fastest scoring ground (8.80) when the spinners were on. It was the fastest-scoring venue in the powerplay (9.91), the second-fastest-scoring in the middle overs (9.58) and the fastest regularly used venue – only Dharamshala ended up above it – at the death (12.26). There is a chance, then, that we may witness some run-scoring.
Players in the spotlight.
While he’s been in the spotlight for losing the Mumbai captaincy, it’s probably been less remarked upon that Rohit Sharma is setting the powerplay on fire. He’s scored 50 off 28 balls in the first six overs this season, for one dismissal, and his powerplay strike rate of 178.57 is his best in any IPL season, with his 2015 figure of 150.84 a distant second.
Royals, though, have the new-ball bowling to potentially neutralize Rohit in the powerplay. They have Trent Boult, of course, but they also have a swing-bowling option who hasn’t bowled a single powerplay over this season, Sandeep Sharma. One of the most prolific powerplay bowlers in IPL history, Sandeep has adapted splendidly to a new role in the death overs, but his IPL record against Rohit makes a case for him to get the new ball again: 44 balls, 38 runs, five dismissals.
Vital stats that matter.
- Mumbai have won four of their last five matches against Royals.
- Mumbai won five of their seven home games in the league stage of IPL 2023, giving them a home win percentage of 71.4, the best in the tournament last year.
- Jasprit Bumrah has an economy rate of 6.25 so far this season. The next-best Mumbai bowler on that count has been Gerald Coetzee, at 10.50. In all, the non-Bumrah Mumbai bowlers have a combined economy rate of 12.06. The story is similar on the average front too, with Bumrah giving away 16.7 runs per wicket and the rest an eye-watering 64.3.
- Keep an eye out for the contest between Bumrah and Shimron Hetmyer. Their IPL meetings have been rather one-sided so far: 14 balls, nine runs, three dismissals.
- Yashaswi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler haven’t yet made a truly telling contribution this season, but there’s every likelihood at least one of them will fire on Monday night. Jaiswal, who plays for Mumbai in domestic cricket, averages 54.50 here in the IPL while striking at 173.01 across four innings. Buttler, meanwhile, has played 13 games here for Royals, averaging 49.18 and striking at 155.01 while achieving top scores of 116, 94*, 89 and 70*.
MI vs RR probable playing 11.
Mumbai Indians : Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk.), Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Hardik Pandya (c), Tim David, Piyush Chawla, Gerald Coetzee, Jasprit Bumrah, Kumar Kartikeya, Luke Wood
Impact Subs: Dewald Brevis, Romario Shepherd, Mohammad Nabi, Vishnu Vinod, Nehal Wadhera
Rajasthan Royals: Yashaswi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (c & wk.), Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Sandeep Sharma, Avesh Khan, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal
Impact Subs: Rovman Powell, Nandre Burger, Tanush Kotian, Shubham Dubey, Kuldeep Sen
Fantasy XI : Ishan Kishan, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, Yashaswi Jaiswal, Tim David, Hardik Pandya, Riyan Parag, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Nandre Burger.
MI vs RR match prediction
Considering the head-to-head record, Mumbai Indians’ ability to bounce back, and their home advantage, our prediction favors the five-time champions to emerge victorious against the Rajasthan Royals on April 1st. We predict Mumbai Indians (MI) to win. While Rajasthan Royals‘ batting has been impressive, Mumbai Indians’ batting lineup is arguably the strongest in the competition, especially if Suryakumar Yadav returns from injury. The addition of Hardik Pandya to the bowling attack also strengthens Mumbai’s chances.
Cricket enthusiasts can expect a riveting contest at the Wankhede Stadium.