This tournament has allowed youngsters to dream big, says Sachin Tendulkar ahead of IPL 1000th match

The 42nd match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday will be the 1000th match of this cash-rich league, making this another landmark in the rich and decorated history of the tournament.

In a video posted by the official Twitter handle of IPL, Sachin said, "1000th game. Wow. The time has flown by so quickly. Big congratulations to BCCI. It is a huge achievement. More so when you see how the tournament has grown in stature. I remember in 2008 it was the first season, I was a part of it and now I am here in a different capacity. It is always a pleasure to be a part of the tournament. It is by far the biggest tournament in the world, it has given so many opportunities to cricketers in India and the world. It is a tournament which has allowed youngsters to dream big."

https://twitter.com/IPL/status/1652647434168987648

Sachin has played six IPL seasons, all for Mumbai Indians, where he has scored total of 2334 runs in 78 matches at an average of 34.84. Sachin has 13 fifties and one hundred under his belt, hitting 29 sixes and 295 fours with a strike rate of 119.82.

Sachin's best performance came in IPL 2010. He scored 618 runs in 15 matches at an average of 47.53 at a strike rate of 132.61. He scored five fifties that season and his best individual score was 89*. He won the 'Orange Cap' that season. MI finished as runners-up that season.

The match between MI-RR will be a battle of batters. Mumbai Indians have one of the most star-studded and exciting batting line-ups in the tournament. The opening duo of Ishan Kishan (183 runs) and Rohit Sharma (181 runs) has delivered for the most part so far with their positive starts and attacking strokes. Tilak Varma (219 runs) continues to be in good form, that he had in IPL 2022.

With Cameron Green (199 runs) and Suryakumar Yadav (146 runs) finally getting among runs, the Mumbai Indians line-up makes every match a worth-watching affair with their hard-hitting batting. The trio of Tilak-Green-Suryakumar can be really lethal in the middle to death overs.

But MI falls short when it comes to bowling in comparison to RR. Though Piyush Chawla (11 wickets) is enjoying a revival in cricket at its highest level, Jason Behrendorff (8 wickets), Riley Meredith (6 wickets), Cameron Green (5 wickets) and Arjun Tendulkar (3 wickets), with their economy rates near 10 or above it. Green notably has an economy rate of 10.45. Concerns over Jofra Archer's fitness are also there. He has had a disappointing IPL 2023, with only one wicket in two matches.

RR has a dangerous opening pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal (304 runs) and Jos Buttler (271 runs). On their day, which has been the case during nearly every RR fixture in IPL 2023, they can put any bowling attack on the backfoot right from the ball one. Skipper Sanju Samson (198 runs) and Devdutt Padikkal (192 runs) are not in their best form exactly, but cannot be ruled out.

This strong batting line-up gets support down the order from two in-form finishers Shimron Hetmyer (196 runs) and Dhruv Jurel (130 runs), which has changed matches in their side's favour with their willow on some occasions.

RR becomes a better all-round side out of two with an equally lethal bowling attack. The spin trio of Yuzvendra Chahal (12 wickets), Ravichandran Ashwin (11 wickets) and Adam Zampa (5 wickets) have been magical with their bamboozling lines, lengths and flight. The pace attack is boosted by the likes of Trent Boult (9 wickets) and Sandeep Sharma (7 wickets).

Whatever the result may be, fans are guaranteed an amazing game of cricket with these two exciting sides locking horns. This game very well could be the perfect celebration of the festival that IPL has become over the years, with an age worth 1,000 matches old, which fans hope keeps increasing every year.

MI is in the eighth position in the points table with three wins and four losses. They have a total of six points. They had lost their previous match to Gujarat Titans by 55 runs. RR on the other hand is in the second position with five wins and three losses. They have a total of 10 points. RR had won their previous match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 32 runs.

Squads:Mumbai Indians Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Kumar Kartikeya, Arjun Tendulkar, Riley Meredith, Piyush Chawla, Jason Behrendorff, Tilak Varma, Sandeep Warrier, Jofra Archer, Vishnu Vinod, Ramandeep Singh, Shams Mulani, Hrithik Shokeen, Akash Madhwal, Duan Jansen, Arshad Khan, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Raghav Goyal.

Rajasthan Royals Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jason Holder, Adam Zampa, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldip Yadav, Joe Root, Trent Boult, Murugan Ashwin, Navdeep Saini, Akash Vasisht, KC Cariappa, Obed McCoy, Riyan Parag, KM Asif, Kuldeep Sen, Donavon Ferreira, Abdul Basith, Kunal Singh Rathore. (ANI)