IPL 2021: The first match of the 2021 IPL is looking like a blockbuster even before the start of the game. The two heavy-weights of the Indian Premier League, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore go head-to-head in the opening match of this year’s IPL. Due to the Covid-19 restrictions in place, this year the matches will be held at neutral venues to reduce the time of travel. Thus, the opening game is neither in Bengaluru, nor in Mumbai, it will be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
The last time these two teams met at the Chidambaram Stadium, it was in 2011 during the Champions League T20 Final. Although the Chennai Stadium has a reputation of hosting high-scoring matches, it this match was a relatively low scoring one. It was a day that was dominated by spin bowling.
Virat Kohli, Keiron Pollard, Suryakumar Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal were the players who were part of that match as well. The current KKR spinner, Harbhajan Singh also was part of MI, then. He was the captain of the side. Chahal and Harbhajan picked up five wickets between them. MI scored 139 and set a decent target of 140 in front of RCB. Gayle and Dilshan failed to give a good start. Even Virat Kohli didn’t score as many runs. RCB were all out for 108 in that match. Eventually, Mumbai Indians won the match and the Champions League T20 as well. This was the first trophy in the history of the franchise. Check out the scorecard of the 2011 match here.
These teams meet again today (9 April, 2021) for the first group stage match of the IPL. It will be interesting to see whether RCB would better their old record at the Chidambaram Stadium.
When does MI vs RCB match begin?
The match starts at 7:30 pm IST.
Where will the live streaming of MI vs RCB available on?
MI vs RCB will be live streamed on Disney+Hotstar.