High-flying Royals look to end Jaipur leg on winning note

PreviewThe table toppers will fancy their chances against a Mumbai attack that, barring Jasprit Bumrah, has largely looked toothless

Jasprit Bumrah has been Mumbai’s standout player so far • AFP/Getty Images

Match details

Rajasthan Royals (P7 W6 L1; 1st) vs Mumbai Indians (P7 W3 L4; 6th)

Jaipur, 1930 IST (2pm GMT)

Big picture – Mumbai bowlers need to chip in

After losing three games in a row, Mumbai Indians bounced back with three wins in their next four matches. However come Monday, against the high-flying Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur, Jasprit Bumrah’s brilliance alone might not be enough to guarantee a win.

Table-toppers Royals have won six of their seven games with Sanju Samson (276 at a strike rate of 155.05), Riyan Parag (318 at 161.42) and Jos Buttler (250 at 147.92) contributing 844 runs. Up against a strong batting side, Mumbai will need other bowlers to chip in as well if they are to move up in the points table from sixth position.

For the visitors, Bumrah has led the attack with 13 wickets at an economy rate of 5.96. Their new-recruit Gerald Coetzee has been inconsistent in this IPL, but he stepped up against a spirited Punjab Kings with 3 for 32. Though guilty of leaking 9.92 runs per over in his first IPL season, he has accounted for 12 wickets in seven games, joint-second in the wicket charts.

However, barring the two seamers, Mumbai’s bowling has disappointing. Their overall economy of 10.11 is the third worst among the teams and they average 31.67 with the ball.

Hardik Pandya and Akash Madhwal bowled in five games, both conceding more than 11 runs an over for a combined nine wickets. Shreyas Gopal replaced Piyush Chawla in the spin department, but has not found his feet yet. The under-utilisation of Mohammed Nabi has also hurt Mumbai – the Afghan spinner has bowled just six overs in four matches, with no wickets to show.

On paper, Royals start as favourites and would look to end their final game in Jaipur on a high.

Form guide

Rajasthan Royals WWLWW (last five matches, most recent first)

Mumbai Indians WLWWL

Previous meeting

Earlier in the competition, Royals beat Mumbai by six wickets at the Wankhede Stadium in a low-scoring game. Trent Boult’s 3 for 22 rattled Mumbai and they were restricted to 125 for 9. In reply, Parag’s unbeaten 54 off 39 helped Royals chase down the target inside 16 overs.

Team news and impact player strategy

Rajasthan Royals

One of Yashasvi Jaiswal or Jos Buttler will sub out when the team is bowling, with seamer Kuldeep Sen coming in as an impact player. It is still not clear if Sandeep Sharma will be available for the game.

Probable XII 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Jos Buttler, 3 Sanju Samson (capt & wk), 4 Riyan Parag, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Dhruv Jurel, 7 Rovman Powell, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Trent Boult, 10 Avesh Khan, 11 Kuldeep Sen, 12 Yuzvendra Chahal.

Mumbai Indians

Since Suryakumar Yadav’s comeback from injury, he has been used as an impact sub, with seamer Akash Madhwal replacing him when the team bowls. Mumbai could continue with the same approach in Jaipur also.

Probable XII 1 Ishan Kishan (wk), 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Hardik Pandya (capt), 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Tim David, 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Romario Shepherd, 9 Shreyas Gopal, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Gerald Coetzee, 12 Akash Madhwal

In the spotlight – Yashasvi Jaiswal and Gerald Coetzee

Yashasvi Jaiswal had an impressive season in the IPL last year, scoring 625 runs at an average of 48.07 and a strike rate of 163.61. More than half of those runs came inside the powerplay where he scored 361 runs. However, in this IPL, he has been going through a lean patch, having scored 121 runs at an average of 17.28 and a strike rate of 145.78. Though Parag, Samson and Buttler have shouldered the bulk of the responsibility in batting, Royals would hope Jaiswal gets his mojo back.

Gerald Coetzee has ramped up his performance in the recent times, to be the second highest wicket-taker for Mumbai behind Bumrah, with 12 scalps. In an otherwise misfiring bowling unit, Mumbai will depend on him and Bumrah to keep Royals at bay.

Stats that matter

Jaiswal has been dismissed six out of seven time inside the powerplay this IPL.

Bumrah and Coetzee combinedly have taken a total of 25 wickets so far in IPL 2024.

Parag has hit 20 sixes in seven innings, the most for a Royals batter.

Buttler’s strike rate drops to 95.38 against Bumrah in IPL. The Mumbai fast bowler has dismissed him two out of eight times, for 62 runs off 65 balls.

Yuzvendra Chahal has picked up a wicket in each of his seven matches. In Jaipur, he has seven wickets from four games thus far.

Royals have the third-best average of 27.79 and second-best economy of 8.73 with the ball, behind Chennai Super Kings.

Pitch and conditions

Sawai Mansingh Stadium has hosted four games so far and when Royals had batted first in three of those, they posted scores of 193, 185, 196. It has been a batting-friendly venue with some assistance for spinners. The final game in Jaipur is also expected to be a high-scoring one.

Srinidhi Ramanujam is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo

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