The 14th season of the world's largest and most popular T20I league, is set to start from April 9. IPL 14 season opener will be played in Chennai's MA Chidambaram stadium between the five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore, captained by prolific batsman Virat Kohli. Many cricket fans believe that Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians are the favourites in this match.
Here are the five reasons why Mumbai Indains might register a victory in the IPL 2021 season opener
The star-studded batting line-up of heavyweights Mumbai Indians
The team have many hard-hitting batters, including opener and skipper Rohit Sharma. Even though South African great Quinton de Kock won't be available for Mumbai's first match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, exciting talents like Suryakumar Yadav and Ishaan Kishan can fill his place in the playing XI.
In the absence of De Kock, Ishaan can also handle the responsibility of opening the innings for Mumbai with Rohit Sharma. At the same time, there is no star batsman in the RCB team except for captain Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Apart from these two, Devdutt Padikkal was also in good form but after testing positive for Covid-19, he will not be part of RCB's playing-XI.
Presence Of Excellent all-rounders like Hardik and Kieron Pollard
Mumbai Indians have some fiery all-rounders like Hardik Pandya, his elder brother Krunal Pandya as well as Windies batting legend Kieron Pollard. It will be interesting to see whether Rohit uses Hardik as a bowling option -- after the recently concluded T20 series against England, it seems likely.
Apart from Hardik and Krunal, even Pollard can prove to be amazing both with the bat and ball. Aussie star player Glenn Maxwell is also a big all-rounder in the RCB team but last season was horrific for him as he did not hit a single six with his bat. Washington Sundar is also one of the all-rounder option but he seems to have a slight lack of experience.
Mumbai Indians' lethal bowling attack
The bowling attack of the Mumbai Indians looks extremely strong, with big names like Jasprit Bumrah, Nathan Coulter Nile, Adam Milne, James Pattinson and Trent Boult.
Apart from fast bowling, Rahul Chahar and Piyush Chawla will be eager to show their talent with spin.
Chawla was bagged in by Mumbai for 2.4 crores in IPL Auction to strengthen the spin bowling and he might prove to be lethal as well. RCB's bowling unit also looks great with players like Navdeep Saini, Kyle Jamieson, Mohammad Siraj and Yuzvendra Chahal in its squad.
MA Chidambaram Stadium's spin-friendly track
The pitch of MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai turns out to be spinner-friendly. In such a situation, the batsman may have to struggle a bit against spinners when it comes to hitting big sixes. However, on the same pitch, in the year 2018, Team India defeated the West Indies in a T20 match after chasing down a 182-run target.
Fast bowlers can also get some help from the Chepauk track. Spinners like Yuzvendra Chahal can do wonders on this pitch but he has not been in good form for quite some time now. Piyush Chawla is a leg-spinner and can upset Virat Kohli's RCB in a big way tonight.
Mumbai's excellent record against Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL
A total of 27 matches have been played between the two teams in the IPL so far, while two matches were played in the Champions League.
Mumbai Indians won both matches in the Champions League. Rohit Sharma & Co. have won 17 out of 27 times against RCB in the IPL, their previous record against the Bangalore-based franchise will boost up their confidence. This will be the third match between these two teams at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, before that both teams have won one match each at this ground.