The five-time-champion Mumbai Indians will welcome Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Match 25 of IPL 2024 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday (April 11).

These two arch-rivals met each other 32 times in the past and Mumbai got the edge here as they emerged victorious on 18 occasions while RCB did the same 14 times. In their last duel, RCB thrashed MI by 8 wickets in IPL 2023.

In this season MI and RCB are sitting at the eighth and ninth position of the points table respectively with two points each. Both of them have managed to win only one match so far. The Mumbai side’s only win came from the last match against DC whereas RCB made a hattrick of defeat since their only victory against PBKS.

IPL 2024 MI vs RCB: Bowing Squad Comparison

Mumbai Indians’ bowling unit was more balanced and experienced than that of the Royal Challengers. Jasprit Bumrah and Gerald Coetzee will spearhead the pace attack. They also have pacers like Kwena Maphaka, Nuwan Thushara, Akash Madhwal, and Romario Shepherd. The spin department will be led by only veteran spinner of the squad Piyush Chawla and he will be helped by the likes of Mohammad Nabi, Shams Mulani and Tilak Verma.

On the other hand, RCB remains a batter-heavy team for all of its history. Mohammed Siraj will lead the pace attack. There are other fast bowlers like Alzarri Joseph, Reece Topley, Yash Dayal, Vijaykumar Vyshak and Cameron Green. Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror and Mayank Dagar will be their options in a spin attack.

IPL 2024 MI vs RCB: Who will Get Maximum Wickets?

Jasprit Bumrah (MI): After missing the last season of the IPL, he is back in IPL 2024 with a bang. The 31-year-old Indian fast bowler got 5 wickets in the 4 matches in this IPL and also bagged 150 wickets in his IPL career with a brilliant economy rate of 7.35. His economical bowling with an exceptionally good accuracy rate to place yorkers made him a deadly bowler for bowling in death overs. This skill will come in handy in the match also against RCB.

Gerald Coetzee(MI): The 23-year-old South African fast bowler is currently the highest wicket-taker for MI this season, with 7 wickets in four matches. It is the first season in IPL for the youngster and yet he has delivered a decent show till now. Like any other tall fast bowler, he also has injury as a big concern. If he manages to stay fit, Coetzee can be a great asset for South Africa cricket.

Mohammed Siraj(RCB): The 30-year-old Indian pacer has 82 wickets in his IPL career. He is the only regular bowler in the RCB squad who has some experience in international cricket. The right-arm fast bowler has picked 4 wickets in 5 matches so far in this IPL. In the last IPL, Siraj was the highest wicket-taker for the Challengers with 19 wickets. His role will be crucial for RCB in this season.

Reece Topley(RCB): The English left-arm medium-fast bowler has played 2 matches in this season and bagged 3 wickets. The 30-year-old does not have enough experience in IPL but in the last match, his bowling was decent enough for RCB to continue him on the pace-friendly grounds. injury remains a concern for the player throughout his career. If he manages to stay fit for the season he can be a great addition to the RCB bowling attack.

Hardik Pandya-led MI is nowhere near the form they were expected to be in, yet their batters have managed to build some huge innings in this short span. While for RCB, after playing five matches they are still in a murky state. Virat Kohli’s team lost three matches in a row, two of them were in their home. With this inexperienced bowling attack it will be an uphill task for the Challengers to put a check on the star-batter-filled MI. Yet both of the teams will try their best to return to winning, hence we can expect a high-score drama from this Thursday evening clash.