The 5-time champions are off to a rather poor start to their title defense in IPL 2021. With 3 losses from 5 matches at Chepauk, Mumbai Indians will be desperate to find their form and winning momentum. If batting on a slower track in Chepauk was challenging, Delhi doesn’t seem to be a very promising venue for MI either.
Mumbai Indians’ batting form – A downward graph
Every single MI match in IPL 2021 has seen the defending champions score a lower total than their previous game. In their last 3 innings, Mumbai Indians finished with 131-6, 137-9, and 150-5 while batting first in Chennai.
The only promising batsmen in this MI setup as of now are Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav. The odds for these two batsmen to be the leading run-scorers against Rajasthan Royals are 3.40 and 4.00 respectively.
MI vs RR Winner Odds & Head to Head Stats
MI will take on RR after a 5-day break. The bookmakers are expecting a turnaround from Mumbai Indians as the winner market offers 1.54 odds for a Mumbai win. Royals, on the other hand, are priced at odds of 2.35 in spite of a convincing win in their last IPL match.
Of the 23 head-to-head contests in IPL so far, both teams have won 11 matches each. Rajasthan Royals are coming into this match with a confident bowling attack. Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahman, and Chetan Sakariya have all been impressive with the ball.
Royals are likely to pose a tough challenge to the MI batsmen on the Kotla pitch. However, it is RR batting that’s struggling with inconsistencies throughout the lineup.
The 2008 winners depend on the services of Jos Buttler, David Miller, and Sanju Samson in the batting department. Losing Butler and Samson early in the innings puts Rajasthan on the back foot and they are likely to not bounce back. Mumbai’s bowling attack can rip through the RR batting lineup and help MI get back to winnings ways.