Our expert tipster has cast their eye over the upcoming IPL opening day clash between the Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore. He’s taken a look at the stats and sees the hosts starting their stride for a third Indian Premier League win in a row with a victory this weekend.
Mumbai Indians v Royal Challengers Bangalore
9th April
M.A. Chidambaram Stadium
Live on Sky Sports Cricket
Mumbai Indians v Royal Challengers Bangalore Preview
Mumbai Indians are looking to add to their legacy as India’s most successful team by winning their third successive IPL title. The arrivals of experienced spinner Piyush Chawla, New Zealand’s Jimmy Neesham and Adam Milne and Marco Jansen have added to their close-knit unit that won the trophy last year, and they enter the game as strong favourites. One thing that will work in the favour of the Challengers is that star player Quinton de Kock is in quarantine after playing in his home country of South Africa against Pakistan just a few days ago. With big bucks signing Glenn Maxwell and the newly signed Blackcaps star Kyle Jamieson prepared for their debuts, last season’s play-off contenders will fancy their chances here.
Mumbai Indians v Royal Challengers Bangalore Odds
Champions Mumbai Indians are 5/8 favourites to win the first game of the season, while the Royal Challengers are slight underdogs at 23/20 to emerge victorious.
Mumbai Indians v Royal Challengers Bangalore Tips
It’s hard to look past a Mumbai Indians win at 5/8 here, but that upset win at just under evens is an interesting bet. With Quinton de Kock’s palace in the squad up in the air due to his quarantine, we don’t love him at 9/4 to be the top batsman for the home side, but Rohit Sharma at 11/4 seems worth a look. We also like him for man-of-the-match at 13/2. Yuzvendra Chahal at 2/1 to be the top batsman for the visitors looks pretty good relative to the other odds on offer, so we could see that one happening.
Rohit Sharma to be home teams top batsman – 11/4
He’s expected to captain the team this weekend, and if Quinton de Kock’s involvement is limited by quarantine then it seems obvious to us that Rohit Sharma will be the top batsman for the Mumbai Indians. He’s 13/2 to be man-of-the-match this weekend as well, which is a decent bet if you’re interested in a bit of a long shot.
Yuzvendra Chahal to be home team top bowler – 2/1
His interesting wedding video just trended online, but we could see Chahal going viral for a different reason altogether this week. He was involved in India’s ODI series win over England in the last few weeks, and will be looking to start his season well this weekend.
Squads
Mumbai Indians (MI) Full Squad for IPL 2021: Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (WK), Chris Lynn, Anmolpreet Singh, Saurabh Tiwary, Aditya Tare, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Anukul Roy, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohsin Khan, Adam Milne, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, James Neesham, Yudhvir Charak, Marco Jansen, and Arjun Tendulkar
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Full Squad for IPL 2021: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Navdeep Saini, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa, Shahbaz Ahmed, Josh Philippe, Pavan Deshpande, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Devdutt Padikkal, S. Bharat, Suyash Prabhudessai, Daniel Christian, Kyle Jamieson, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Rajat Patidar, Sachin Baby, Glenn Maxwell.
For more betting odds on the 2021 Indian Premier League, head over to the NetBet Cricket page.
*Odds are subject to change.