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The Indian Premier League (IPL) clash between five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will be a battle of two of the world's best cricketers, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, wearing MI's Blue and Gold colours, against star batter Virat Kohli, who is representing the Red and Gold colours of his franchise for 18th successive season.
The MI-RCB clash at Wankhede will be a star-studded affair, featuring two of India's all-time batting greats, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, the pace duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult versus the duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood, two hard-hitting T20 batters, Suryakumar Yadav and Rajat Patidar, and the Pandya brothers, Hardik and Krunal, in opposite camps. Perhaps the most anticipated match-up out of these all is Bumrah versus Virat. Both have been absolute generational talents for India with ball and bat in their hands and it is very unlikely if a talent of this magnitude, hype and statistics will hit Indian cricket in years to come. The match-up between these two giants is a balanced one. It is as if both take turns trying to get better of the other. While Bumrah has dismissed Virat five times in 16 innings, Virat has still managed to score 140 runs off him in 95 balls, at an average of 28.00 and a strike rate of 147.36. Virat has handled Bumrah with aggression, hitting 15 fours and five sixes against him. Whether Bumrah prevails or Virat that would most likely be determined by the end of their careers, given how these two superstars like to give it back to their opponent. While RCB is placed in the third spot with two wins and a loss and has won both their away games so far against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), MI is at the eighth spot in the table with just one win and three losses. In the ongoing IPL 2025, Virat has scored 97 runs in three matches at an average of 48.50, a strike rate of over 134, with a half-century to his name. On the other hand, Bumrah is coming to this season after a lengthy injury lay-off, having not played any form of cricket since sustained a stress injury in his back during fifth Test of Border-Gavaskar Trophy at Sydney in January. Squads: Mumbai Indians Squad: Will Jacks, Ryan Rickelton(w), Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Mitchell Santner, Raj Bawa, Deepak Chahar, Ashwani Kumar, Vignesh Puthur, Jasprit Bumrah, Corbin Bosch, Robin Minz, Satyanarayana Raju, Karn Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Trent Boult, Reece Topley, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Krishnan Shrijith, Arjun Tendulkar, Bevon Jacobs Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Krunal Pandya, Tim David, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Rasikh Dar Salam, Suyash Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh, Abhinandan Singh, Romario Shepherd, Lungi Ngidi, Nuwan Thushara, Mohit Rathee, Swastik Chikara. (ANI)
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