On a three-match winning streak, Rajasthan Royals have the momentum as well as a source of inspiration when they face bottom-placed and out-of-reckoning Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League (IPL 2022) match on Saturday.


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The Royals will be celebrating the extraordinary life of their lone IPL title-winning captain Shane Warne, who died last month in Thailand, during this game. A win would give a perfect tribute to the legendary Australian spinner under whose inspirational leadership, the Royals had won the 2008 title.


While Rajasthan, placed second in the standings, has lost only two games and won six, Mumbai is already out of contention for a playoff berth, having lost all their eight matches so far.


After mustering just 144 runs in their last game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Royals would be hoping for an improvement from their batters.


Their openers Jos Buttler and Devdutt Padikkal have been among the runs. Buttler has already slammed three hundred and the challenge for the MI bowlers would be to find ways to stop the marauding Englishman. He and Paddikal would look to continue to provide an aggressive start.


Mumbai, on the other hand, needs a “collective effort”. The out-of-form opening duo of Rohit and Ishan Kishan need to find ways to get going and the same holds good for the middle-order batters.


Kishan, with 199 runs from eight outings, has not justified his Rs 15.25 crore price tag.


Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma and Dewald Brewis have had their moments of individual brilliance, but they need to fire in unison. One of the top-order batters will need to score big if Mumbai has to get a big score or chase down a stiff target.


Another concern for Mumbai is the poor run of form of all-rounder Kieron Pollard who is no longer the ‘finisher’ that he once used to be and the burly West Indian will need to display his six-hitting abilities.


Mumbai’s bowling has been an even bigger concern. Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been at his best but has lacked support from the likes of Jaydev Unadkat, Daniel Sams and Riley Meredith.


Match Details


Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians, Match No. 44


Venue: Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai 


Date & Time: April 30th at 7:30 PM IST


Live Streaming: Star Sports Network, Star Gold and Disney+Hotstar



RR vs MI Dream 11 Prediction


Wicketkeepers: Jos Buttler (C), Sanju Samson


Batters: Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Verma, Devdutt Padikkal


All-rounders: Ravichandran Ashwin


Bowlers: Jaydev Unadkat (VC), Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal (VC), Prasidh Krishna


Captain: Jos Buttler


Vice-Captain: Yuzvendra Chahal



RR vs MI Probable Playing XI


Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Daryl Mitchell, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Kuldeep Sen, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal


Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hrithik Shokeen, Kieron Pollard, Daniel Sams, Jaydev Unadkat, Jasprit Bumrah, Riley Meredith