On Monday, April 7, the Mumbai Indians (MI) will play the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the 20th game of the current Indian Premier League (IPL) at Mumbai’s famous Wankhede Stadium. As of this writing, MI is ranked seventh in the points table, while RCB is ranked second.
RCB defeated the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the reigning champion Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in back-to-back victories to begin their season. The Gujarat Titans (GT), the IPL 2022 champions, defeated them in their third game, ending their winning streak.
However, MI is having a hard time this time around and has only won one of their first four games. They lost their opening games against CSK and GT before defeating KKR to get their first two points of the season.
The most recent match between MI and the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) was exciting, but the five-time champions missed the goal by 12 runs. Both sides will do their hardest to resume their winning ways because they are coming off a defeat.
In light of that, let’s examine three player clashes to keep an eye on during the MI vs. RCB match:
1. Suryakumar Yadav vs Josh Hazlewood
Suryakumar Yadav, who recently played his 100th IPL match for MI, is in excellent form with the bat and scored the most runs (67) for his team in their previous game against LSG. With Surya at the top, MI has a potent middle-order lineup.
In contrast, Josh Hazlewood has taken six wickets at an economy of 7.26 and an average of 14.33 in his first three games. He has claimed wickets in the middle overs and powerplay.
Suryakumar Yadav in this IPL so far:
4 innings
171 runs
57 avg
163 SR
1 fifty
1 Striker Award
1 Most 4s award
He has scored 25+ runs in each game. He has scored most runs by any middle order batter so far. Hopefully his carnage of runs will continue throughout season. pic.twitter.com/XGNpc1Rfnc
— SKY & Supla Shot (@sky_63_mr_t20i) April 6, 2025Since the MI batter’s specialty is dominating in the middle overs and Hazlewood is renowned to slow down any batter’s momentum, their matchup will be intriguing.
Despite being dismissed once by the Australian, Suryakumar Yadav has amassed 26 runs off of 10 balls in T20 cricket. In the aforementioned balls, SKY has hit Josh for two sixes and three fours.
2. Hardik Pandya vs Krunal Pandya
Divided by the IPL, united by blood. That is the tale of the Baroda brothers, Hardik and Krunal Pandya, who will be pitted against one another when RCB and MI play. Hardik has been in charge of MI since the 2024 Indian Premier League, however Krunal joined RCB this season after being signed by the team at the 2025 IPL mega auction.
The two are fully aware of each other’s personal and professional information. They will attempt to use every tactic at their disposal to stop the other while they are facing each other on the pitch.
Hardik Pandya's Instagram story for Krunal Pandya's interview on RCB. ❤️🥹 pic.twitter.com/XSGDMtwYxp
— Tanuj (@ImTanujSingh) April 6, 2025Since they can both deliver with the bat and the ball, they will probably face off in the middle overs. Over the course of four T20 innings and 28 deliveries, Hardik has scored 16 runs against Krunal and been caught by him once.
1. Virat Kohli vs Jasprit Bumrah
In the beginning of IPL 2025 Kohli performed outstandingly until his dismissal during RCB’s game against GT early in the powerplay. Kohli led RCB as captain before delivering 97 runs across three matches while his top score against GT became an undefeated 59.
Jasprit Bumrah, meanwhile, has been cleared by the NCA to participate in his first IPL 2025 match. MI posted a video of Bumrah attending the camp on their official social media accounts. The pace master will undoubtedly be selected for MI’s playing XI since he is ready to go.
𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑫𝒀 𝑻𝑶 𝑹𝑶𝑨𝑹 🦁#MumbaiIndians #PlayLikeMumbai #TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/oXSPWg8MVa
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 6, 2025It will be an exciting match between two of the best cricketers, with Bumrah possibly getting the lead with the new ball and Kohli starting the innings for RCB. After hitting Bumrah for 15 fours and five sixes in 95 deliveries over 16 innings, Kohli has amassed 140 runs off him in T20 cricket. However, the former India captain has lost to India’s pace leading team five times.
