Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 12 : Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan said that heading into their marquee Indian Premier League (IPL), defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have been in good form, but the five-time champions are "slightly ahead" in a man-to-man comparison.
It will be Rohit Sharma versus Virat Kohli, a clash of two iconic names in world cricket, when MI takes on defending champions RCB at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. In their past five clashes, RCB holds the edge, having won three and lost two. However, the firepower of MI, consisting of Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton, Tilak Verma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult cannot be ignored.
Speaking on JioHotstar's 'Match Centre Live', Pathan said about the MI vs RCB clash that bowling in the death overs and the toss will play an important role.
"RCB are travelling now. When they played their first two games at home, they won comfortably, but the moment they went on the road, they lost in Guwahati against the Rajasthan Royals. So, there will be a few questions in the camp. I feel the game might be decided by which team bowls better in the end overs, and the toss will be an important factor too. RCB have the form, but in a man-to-man comparison, I feel Mumbai are slightly ahead," said Pathan.
Rohit and Virat are two of India's most precious assets in their ODI set-up, and since their Test and T20I retirements, their respective fanbases on social media have seemed to mellow down, deciding to enjoy the twilight of their careers and cherishing each run, each appearance with immense joy and togetherness. The fanbases would undoubtedly back their respective favourites religiously for the high-octane IPL clash at Wankhede, as it has been the case with the fan-war culture brought by the IPL.
In RCB vs MI matches during the IPL, it is Virat who enjoys an upper hand with 922 runs in 34 matches and 33 innings at an average of 31.79 and a strike rate of 128.77, with six fifties. On the other hand, Rohit, who also had battles with Virat during his days as a Deccan Chargers player, has represented MI in 26 matches against RCB, scoring 629 runs in 25 innings at an average of 27.34 and a strike rate of over 142, with four fifties and a best score of 94.
Eight batters in the ongoing edition of the IPL have made at least 50 runs at a 200-plus run strike rate. Three of these players are from RCB, skipper Rajat Patidar (142 runs in three innings at an average of 71.00, with a strike rate of 200 and one fifty), Devdutt Padikkal (125 runs in three innings at an average of 41.66 and a strike rate of 201.61 with two fifties), and Tim David (99 runs in three innings at an average of 99.00 and a strike rate of 225.00, with a fifty) belong to this list, as per ESPNCricinfo. MI, however do not have anyone on this list, with Rohit (118 runs in three innings at an average of 39.33 and a strike rate of 168.57 with a fifty) being their top performer with the bat.
However, MI's bowling has been a matter of worry, as four of their bowlers, Shardul Thakur (12.88), Allah Ghazanfar (12.00), Mayank Markande (12.00) and Trent Boult (12.00) have economy rates of 12 or more after playing two or more games this season. Markande and Boult have been wicketless so far.
As per ESPNCricinfo, MI have had more success against RCB, wth 21 wins and 14 losses.
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