The festival of cricket is back in India as the 14 edition of the Indian Premier League, popularly known as IPL, kicks off on Friday, 9 April. The five-time champion Mumbai Indians will be taking on the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the inaugural match of the tournament played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
The last season was delayed due to Covid-19 pandemic and the tournament was shifted to the UAE. This year, the IPL is back in India with lots of safety precautionary measures in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus second wave. The audience will not have entry to the stadiums and the matches will be played with no home games for any franchise.
RCB Vs Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians have played 29 matches against the RCB out of which it has won 19 encounters. Rohit Sharma's team has also won the last eight matches against Virat Kohli's team out of 10 matches.
Further, the Mumbai Indians has won five matches played in this venue, while the RCB has lost all five. Hence, the defending champions are the clear favourite to win the tournament opener. However, Virat Kohli's will be happy with the fact that Rohit Sharma's team has lost season openers of the last eight seasons.
Teams:
RCB's Likely 11: Virat Kohli (capt), Devdutt Padikkal, AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Azharuddeen (wk), Daniel Christian, Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Mumbai Indians' Likely 11: Rohit Sharma (capt), Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, James Neesham, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile/Jayant Yadav, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah.
Watch The IPL 2021 Live from the Comfort of Your Homes. Check Out Live Streaming Details for the Cricket Fans Across the Globe with Match Timings:
US: Willow TV, Hotstar (8.30 am CT)
Canada: Willow TV, Hotstar (10.30 AM Canada Atlantic Time)
UK and Ireland: Sky Sports (2 pm GMT)
South Africa: Supersports (4 pm local time)
Australia: Fox Sports (1.00 am local time)
Middle East: 6 pm local time on beIN Sports
Caribbean: Flow Sports (9 am JA/10 am ECT)
India: Star Hotstar, Jio App, Airtel Stream (7.30 pm IST)
YuppTV will stream the IPL in over 100 countries that include Australia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Japan, Bhutan, Maldives, Central Asia, Continental Europe, Central and South America, and Southeast Asia
