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There would hardly be any other matches with more sub-plots than Mumbai Indians (MI)'s clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Wankhede Stadium tonight. It's Rohit Sharma vs Virat Kohli, a match-up of two struggling captains, Cameron Green's return to MI, and so on.
But on the sporting side, it's also a contest of two of the weakest bowling attacks in the tournament. RCB have destroyed their balance with the Green trade. And MI, despite getting the long straw in the deal, aren't too far ahead due to Pandya's reluctance to bowl, making them reliant on a few stars for extraordinary outings.
Considering that and also the fact that Wankhede tends to punish bad bowling more than most places, we have tried to pick three bowlers who could pick up the most wickets to dominate the proceedings:
#3 Piyush Chawla
The Wankhede has been an excellent ground for spin. especially in the middle overs, which is also RCB's biggest palpable weakness so far in IPL 2024.
It's a shame that none of these teams, who once used to have the best spinners in the country, don't have any tweakers close to the national side. IPL legend Piyush Chawla looks like the best bet to make an impact though. The veteran has decent numbers against RCB - 19 wickets, including his IPL-best of 4/17, in 23 matches.
Virat Kohli has gotten out to him thrice and now, with AB de Villiers gone and Glenn Maxwell out of form, Chawla could enjoy a good middle-overs spell against the likes of Cameron Green, Anuj Rawat, and Dinesh Karthik.
#2 Reece Topley
Left-arm seamer Reece Topley hasn't wasted any time to show RCB why they were wrong to not start the tournament with him. With spells of 1/39 and 2/27 against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Rajasthan Royals (RR), respectively, he has positioned himself like an all-phases strike bowler that RCB desperately needed.
Topley excels when there's a bit of bounce and movement available in the pitch and Wankhede would offer him just that. Rohit Sharma at the top of the order has a much-talked-about weakness against left-arm pace.
But as RR's Trent Boult showed the other night at Wankhede, MI's middle-order isn't much better either.
#1 Jasprit Bumrah
Ace Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah has unequivocally been MI's best bowler in IPL 2024, averaging a brilliant 19.6 with the ball when his teammates have gone at 35.60.
Although most teams have tried to play him out by focusing their attack on others, Bumrah is perhaps the only bowler in the world to whom it doesn't matter. Moreover, RCB's issues against spin mean they'd want to take him on in at least a couple of overs, giving him more opportunities to pick wickets.
Kohli and Glenn Maxwell have historically struggled against Bumrah in the IPL (together they average just 20.4 against him) and the pacer would be licking his lips seeing the visitors' unsettled middle and lower orders.
Bumrah has excellent numbers against RCB too - 24 wickets in 18 games at an average of 22.13.
