Jayawardene v Sangakkara and Malinga, Ashwin v Ashwin, Boult v Rohit are few of the subplots
Deivarayan Muthu01-Apr-20222:58
Will Trent Boult be key against Mumbai’s top-heavy batting?
Big pictureMahela Jayawardene vs Kumar Sangakkara & Lasith Malinga. Rohit Sharma vs Sanju Samson. Kieron Pollard vs Shimron Hetmyer. Jasprit Bumrah vs Trent Boult. M Ashwin vs R Ashwin. Saturday’s fixture between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals promises to be a mouth-watering one.Mumbai are usually slow starters – they lost their opener to a depleted Delhi Capitals side this season from a seemingly winning position. Contrastingly, Royals have set the early pace this season with a 61-run drubbing of Sunrisers Hyderabad.Live in the USA
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Royals have also been Mumbai’s bogey team in the recent past: since IPL 2018, they have won five of the eight games between the two sides. Their bowling attack ticks nearly all boxes, and their batting line-up boasts of dynamic T20 players who thrive on easy-paced hit-through-the-line tracks that Mumbai often serves up. However, there are questions around the No.7 spot. Is Nathan Coulter-Nile fit? If Coulter-Nile isn’t fit, then can Jimmy Neesham or Daryl Mitchell do the job for Royals?In the newsSuryakumar Yadav is fit again after having missed Mumbai’s opening game against Capitals because of a hairline fracture he sustained during the home series against West Indies last month.Bowling allrounder Coulter-Nile tumbled in his followthrough and left the field after bowling just one ball – a no-ball – in the last over of Royals’ defence against Sunrisers. It remains to be see whether he has recovered in time for Saturday’s fixture.