Follow UsFive-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) take on Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Match 9 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 at the DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai on Saturday (April 2). While RR got off to the best of starts with a comprehensive 61-run over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), MI, lost their opening match to Delhi Capitals (DC) and will look to bounce back in this game.
MI have the slight upper hand when it comes to head-to-head contests and also in the last five matches between the two teams.
Head-to-head
Matches: Overall 24 | MI 13 wins | RR 11 wins
Last 5 matches: MI 3 wins | RR 2 wins
Ground details
In IPL 2022 so far, the DY Patil Stadium has witnessed two contrasting matches. In the first game, Punjab Kings successfully chased down 206 with five wickets and a full over to spare against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), the second match witnessed RCB huff and puff to their target of 129 against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
Slowly but surely, it looks like the spinners will have a bigger say at this venue. While they picked up just a couple of wickets in the first game, the second one saw as many as six wickets falling to the spinners. Could we see more in this game?
This will be the first day game of the tournament at this venue and given that we may not see as much dew, we could be in for a high-scoring game.
Suggested team
While you could pick the above team, check out our Fantasy Research Centre section to try out various combinations and pick the best team possible
Captain
Ishan Kishan looked at his fearless best against DC and MI would want him to play a similar role in this match and also in the tournament going forward. His unbeaten 48-ball 81 took MI to a competitive total of 177 for 5, but it was not enough to get the two points on the board. In his 14 innings in the powerplay since IPL 2020, Kishan has scored 247 runs at an impressive strike-rate of 138.8. Along with his skipper Rohit Sharma, Kishan will hope to get MI off to a solid start once again.
Our Criclytics Player Projector predicts Kishan could score 41-61 runs in this match
X-Factors
No bowler has picked up more wickets than Trent Boult in the first six overs of the innings in IPL since 2020. His 22 wickets in this period have come at an average of 20.5, 18.5 deliveries apart. He has also induced 29.4% of false shots and has a dot ball % of 58.3, making him an ideal candidate in your XI. Overall since IPL 2020, Boult is among the top five wicket-takers in the league, with 40 wickets at 22.1 further emphasizing that he is as consistent as they come. Boult has started off this edition also quite well, finishing with 2 for 23 against SRH.
Our Criclytics Player Projector predicts Boult could pick up 2-3 wickets in this match
Sanju Samson is an important cog for RR especially when it comes to the middle-overs. Since IPL 2020, Samson has scored 561 runs (second highest) at a strike-rate close to 153 between overs 7 and 15, smashing a boundary once every 5.6 deliveries. His 27-ball 55 against SRH in the previous game helped RR post an imposing 210. Samson will hope to continue his form into this game as well.
Our Criclytics Player Projector predicts Boult could pick up 26-38 runs in this match
Jasprit Bumrah had a forgettable game against DC, giving away 43 runs from his 3.2 overs. With one poor match out of the way, we can expect Bumrah to bounce back strongly in this game. Bumrah has 14 wickets at 17.6 in 10 matches against RR, picking up a scalp once every 16.3 deliveries – his best balls per wickets ratio when pitted against all IPL teams. A clever operator at the death, Bumrah has picked up 14 wickets in overs 16-20 since IPL 2020 – only behind Kagiso Rabada (20), 11.6 balls apart. MI will hope he has a good day.
Our Criclytics Player Projector predicts Boult could pick up 0-1 wickets in this match
Here are the top-10 picks as per Criclytics projected points
Probable XI:
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Kieron Pollard, Tim David, Fabian Allen, Jaydev Unadkat, Tymal Mills, Murugan Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler (wk), Sanju Samson (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, James Neesham, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna