Bangalore vs Mumbai: What can we expect from Kohli and Rohit? Match eight of the 2019 Indian T20 League sees Bangalore meet Mumbai at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday. Both teams lost their opening matches of the season, and need wins to get their campaigns going. Ahead of this exciting clash, here’s a look at some hot talking points: Kohli vs Rohit India captain and vice-captain. In the red and black corner, Virat Kohli. A global superstar in every sense of the word, on track to break a few more international batting record. But a man who in 11 years has yet to get his hands on an IPL trophy. (PREVIEW: Can Rohit’s men topple Kohli and Co ?) In the blue corner, Rohit Sharma. An opener par excellence and the holder of three double-centuries in ODI cricket. He also has three IPL titles to his name, which is where Rohit holds the bragging rights when it comes to this competition. (VIDEO: Kohli versus Rohit in Bangalore-Mumbai firecracker) In the IPL, Rohit has proved the better captain. Both Bangalore and Mumbai depend heavily on their captains, who this year have decided to open the innings. Smarting from losses, which one of Kohli and Rohit will dictate terms on Thursday? Can Bangalore’s batting stand up? Since Bangalore released Chris Gayle two seasons ago, their batting has become over reliant on Kohli and AB de Villiers. Quinton de Kock is a very solid player for South Africa, but in the IPL he has not had the success one would expect of a batsman of his calibre. Moeen Ali batted at No 3 on Saturday, but didn’t look a natural fit. Shimron Hetmyer is very talented young cricketer and in his first stint in the IPL, has a lot of responsibilities. Parthiv Patel is a fighter but won’t win Bangalore matches on his own. Beyond that, the domestic talent of Akshdeep Nath, Gurkeerat Singh, Milind Kumar and Washington Sundar will struggle to get playing chances. Australian allrounder Marcus Stoinis has not landed in India yet. (READ: We have a good chance if we get AB de Villiers early: Quinton de Kock) This means that Kohli, Parthiv, de Villiers, Moeen and Hetmyer have their hands full. If they all click, Bangalore look a strong unit. The question hinges on that if. How much will Mumbai miss Bumrah? Kohli declared Jasprit Bumrah the “best bowler in the world” after the fast bowler’s match-winning performance in the MCG Test in December. Bumrah, ranked No 1 in ODIs, is Kohli’s strike bowler in all formats but on Thursday, his chances of facing him appear very slim. Bumrah injured himself during Sunday’s game with Delhi and is an unlikely starter for this game. He turned up at Mumbai’s practice session on Tuesday but did not bowl, which suggests that the team will have to draft in someone else. Barinder Sran is the leading candidate from the Indian pool of pace bowlers. Will Malinga get a chance? Lasith Malinga did not get a chance in the season opener, but having received permission from Sri Lanka Cricket to participate in the league, he is available. Malinga is the tournament’s all-time leading wicket-taker and Mumbai could use his experience, even if he is on the last legs of his international career. The question is: who drops out of Malinga returns? The New Zealand left-arm pace bowler Mitchell McClenaghan has taken 71 wickets for Mumbai, so that proves his success and reliability. The Australia allrounder Ben Cutting does not bowl regularly in the IPL but is a proven performer in T20 cricket. And dropping Cutting would mean Mumbai are a batsman short. Maybe Malinga will have to wait another day for his chance.<doc-sep>This season of the IPL could well dictate the composition of the Indian side for the World Cup. There is little doubt over the importance of Hardik Pandya to the side and his presence renders great balance to India’s ODI outfit. The all-rounder is making a comeback after an injury layoff and did not have an entirely great outing against Delhi Capitals in the first match. He conceded 41 runs in his spell of 4 overs against Delhi and bore the brunt of a Rishabh Pant onslaught. There is a cause for concern, as Hardik has struggled against Royal Challengers Bangalore, as he is the most expensive among the bowlers with 250+ balls bowled for Mumbai in IPL. His economy of 10.13 is the second worst in the IPL and is only next to how he has fared against the Kings XI Punjab. He has featured in 7 matches against RCB, but has been able to pick up only 4 wickets. The Baroda-man has not fared very well at the M Chinnaswamy stadium, and has the highest economy rate at the venue among the venues where he has bowled 60+ balls. After being involved in a slew of controversies over his comments, Hardik now wants to focus on cricket and former Indian pacer and now director of Mumbai Indians Zaheer Khan hopes the distraction will help Pandya get back his focus. Also read: RCB vs MI: Mumbai Indians’ predicted XI - Jasprit Bumrah misses out “Sometimes the distraction actually helps you get back on track. So, he is pretty much on track. For any cricketer, the best way to go about his business is by going out there on that field and let his numbers talk. He is in that frame of mind. He wants opportunities, he wants to go out there, express himself and let everyone know that his priority is cricket,” he said.<doc-sep>Skippers Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will be eyeing a win. (Source: IPL) Skippers Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will be eyeing a win. (Source: IPL) Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI) are the two teams that failed to get off to a perfect start in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019. So when the two sides meet at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday, both the teams will be eager to register their first win of the IPL. The onus will largely rest on the shoulders of both the captains- Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Team News- All eyes will be on how Jasprit Bumrah recovers from his shoulder injury that he suffered in the previous match against Delhi Capitals. As per reports coming out of the Mumbai camp, Bumrah seems to have recovered in time but his fitness is still being accessed. However, it seems unlikely that he will be risked at this moment, especially with the World Cup in mind. Mumbai will also be boosted by the availability of Lasith Malinga. If Bumrah does make it to the playing XI then we will be in for a sumptuous battle against his captain and world number 1 ODI batsman- Virat Kohli. RCB, on the other hand, will expect its batsmen to perform better than what it dished out in Chennai and put up a formidable total. Kohli’s red-army boast of a bunch of power-hitters like AB de Villiers, Shimron Heymeyer and Moeen Ali. However, they are yet to click together as a unit. De Villiers will have fond memories of this ground as he scored four half-centuries in five innings at this ground last season. Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal will again be the key man in the RCB bowling attack and will need the support of the other bowlers. In head to head records MI have the edge with 14 wins out of 23 encounters. Pitch Report: RCB vs MI will be the seventh match of the IPL and the first of the season at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The last match played at this venue was India vs Australia T20I where both teams played a high-scoring match. So once again bowlers can be expected to be taken to the cleaners. A run-fest seems on the cards. The average first innings total on this ground last season was 187. Squads- Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Jason Behrendorff, Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul Chahar, Ben Cutting, Pankaj Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Siddhesh Lad, Evin Lewis, Lasith Malinga, Mayank Markande, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Anukul Roy, Rasikh Salam, Yuvraj Singh, Anmolpreet Singh, Barinder Sran, Aditya Tare, Suryakumar Yadav, Jayant Yadav and Quinton de Kock (wicket-keeper). Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (captain), A. B. de Villiers, Colin de Grandhomme, Kulwant Khejroliya, Moeen Ali, Md. Siraj, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Parthiv Patel, Navdeep Saini, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Washington Sundar, Pawan Negi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Marcus Stoinis, Shivam Dube, Prayas Ray Barman, Shimron Hetmyer, Akshdeep Nath, Himmat Singh, Milind Kumar, Heinrich Klaasen, Gurkeerat Singh Mann and Devdutt Padikkal.<doc-sep>IPL 2019: Match 7 – RCB vs MI – Who Said What Kohli was furious after the umpires committed a blunder in the last over. The M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore turned out to be a delight for the fans as Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) locked horns. The game went right down to the last over and in the end, it was the visitors, who won the game by six runs. Mumbai also rode its luck as the on-field umpire failed to spot a no-ball bowled by Lasith Malinga in the final delivery of the match. Rohit top scores for Mumbai RCB’s decision to field first after winning the toss, misfired a wee bit as the visitors racked up a significant 187 for eight in 20 overs. Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock made a decent start with a stand of 54 runs from 39 deliveries. Spinner Yuzvendra Chahal gave Mumbai its first breakthrough with the wicket of De Kock, who scored 23 runs. Rohit notched 48 and fell prey to fast bowler Umesh Yadav. Suryakumar Yadav didn’t die wondering with a knock of 38 with four fours and a six. Yuvraj Singh smacked three consecutive sixes off Chahal to entertain the crowd and score 23 runs. Chahal went on to pick up a four-wicket haul and was the pick of the RCB’s bowling attack. Hardik Pandya threw his bat around with good effect with a 14-ball 32. Mohammed Siraj and Umesh got two wickets each. Mumbai get home in a thriller Moeen Ali and Parthiv Patel started before a tremendous throw from Rohit Sharma got rid of the former in the fourth over. Then it was the turn of Virat Kohli to show his class. The Delhi-born took on Mumbai’s pace spearhead- Jasprit Bumrah- and hit him for three fours in one over. The RCB captain played a knock of 46 runs that was blended with caution and aggression. He smacked six gorgeous boundaries. Thereafter, De Villiers came to the party and scored a brilliant fifty off 31 balls. With the required rate going up, the onus was on him to take his team home. Shimron Hetmyer succumbed to another failure and he fell prey to Bumrah. De Villiers scored 70 from 41 balls, but with 17 runs required off the last over, Bumrah defended it. Luck also smiled on Mumbai after the blunder by the umpires. Jasprit Bumrah, the Man of the Match, said You go ball by ball and you try to control the controllables. You try to back yourself in the situation. You don’t go too far behind, I was just focussing on my plan and trying to back my strengths. I always try to back myself in any situation and execute the plan to perfection. I have always taken care of my body. Virat Kohli, the RCB captain, said We are playing at the IPL level and not playing club cricket. The umpires should have had their eyes open. That is a ridiculous call at the last ball. If it is a game of margins, I don’t know what is happening. They should have been more sharp and careful out there. When they were 145 for 7, we should have done better. The last few overs were brutal for us. A few more strikes apart from AB could have done the job for us. We need to be smarter at death bowling. Sure they guys will take a lot of learnings from the game. I think the way they bowled, we can learn from their game. The onus is always on each and every member of the team. I got out at a wrong point of time. Shivam was good as well. I mean Jassi is a top-class bowler. A bit of a mistake from me to take him on at that stage. Mumbai is lucky to have him. And also Malinga. And if Jassi is in good form, it is good for India. Rohit Sharma, the MI captain, said I just got to know when we crossed the rope. These kind of things are not good for cricket, one of the Bumrah’s deliveries wasn’t a wide. Players can’t do much. Very disappointed to see that. Anything over 180 is a good score. We know the conditions here and we got the bowlers to get the job done. We didn’t panic, we kept sticking to our strengths. Middle overs are very crucial. We stuck to our plans and I think it was a great effort from the bowlers. Malinga has been the part of MI for a long time, you can always trust those guys in the back end. They bought experience into play. We were quite brave to bowl the deliveries we bowled. Bumrah executed well and we just missed a trick in the middle with the bat. Those are the kind of things we need to remember when playing big games. We were upto the mark today. We all understand Hardik’s importance in the side. Whatever happened with him, he needed that confidence. Batted well and got us those crucial runs in the end. 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Rohit Sharma's Mumbai Indians ended up on the winning side in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 thriller against Royal Challengers Bangalore but the skipper wasn't happy with the umpiring errors that were made in Bengaluru on Thursday. RCB vs MI Match report | Highlights | Royal Challengers Bangalore needed seven runs off the last ball when Lasith Malinga overstepped by a considerable margin. However, the umpires failed to spot the no-ball even as RCB's Shivam Dube failed to find the big one that could have forced a Super Over. Royal Challengers and their fans suffered a heartbreak despite AB de Villiers' special -- 70 not-out of just 41 balls. However, the disappointment turned into displeasure as the replays on the big screen showed Malinga's no-ball. The decision wasn't overturned as both sets of players had already walked off the field. RCB captain Virat Kohli was miffed even as he walked out to do the post-match duties. Expressing his displeasure at the umpiring decisions, Rohit said: "I just got to know when we crossed the rope. These kind of things are not good for cricket, one of the Bumrah's deliveries wasn't a wide. Players can't do much. Very disappointed to see that." As Rohit pointed out, the on-field umpire also came up with a harsh call when he ruled a wide yorker from Jasprit Bumrah in the 19th over as wide. Even though Virat and AB had a partnership going, we didn't panic: Rohit Earlier in the day, Mumbai Indians, who were sent in to bat, got off to a strong start with Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock stitching a 50-run stand. However, Mumbai Indians finished with just an above-par score of 187 after they suffered a collapse. Yuvraj Singh and Hardik Pandya played a cameo each to provide the much-needed impetus the MI innings needed towards the end. "Anything over 180 is a good score, you can fight with it. That's exactly what we did. It was not a safe score, knowing the history of matches in Bengaluru. But we did the job with our bowlers. Even though Virat and AB had a partnership going, we didn't panic. I thought we stuck to our plans, it was a great effort by the bowlers," Rohit added. Heaping praise on MI's death over experts Lasith Malinga and Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit said: "Malinga has been the part of MI for a long time, you can always trust those guys in the back end. They bought experience into play. We were quite brave to bowl the deliveries we bowled. Bumrah executed well and we just missed a trick in the middle." Bumrah was named the Man of the Match for his superlative performance both in the middle overs and at the death. While he picked up the big wicket of Virat Kohli, Bumrah conceded just 5 runs in the penultimate over of the tense chase. Also See: