3 things RCB need to do right to beat MI in IPL 2025 match ft. Josh Hazlewood

A blockbuster clash awaits fans as the Mumbai Indians (MI) are ready to host the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Match 20 of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.

The Wankhede Stadium crowd will cheer loudly for the arrival of Jasprit Bumrah, who's finally got the clearance and will be making his competitive cricket return after three months. MI dearly need Bumrah to fire since they are languishing eighth on the table.

Having said that, this game is as important for RCB as well. The Red and Gold Brigade suffered a loss at home against the Gujarat Titans (GT). However, they have won both their away matches so far. What would they need to do in order to make it three out of three and beat MI on Monday? Let's find out below.

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#3 Ultra-aggressive approach a must at Wankhede

2025 IPL - Kolkata Knight Riders v Royal Challengers Bengaluru - Source: Getty

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru outfit has a star-studded batting lineup for sure. And they are making the full use of it this season. Skipper Rajat Patidar is walking the talk, having a strike rate of 161 so far. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli isn't looking to anchor in case RCB don't lose early wickets quickly.

Meanwhile, the likes of Phil Salt, Liam Livingstone and Tim David don't need reasons to thrill and hit lusty blows at will. Also, Devdutt Padikkal, who's playing as an Impact Sub at number three, has been given a clear role to press the acceleration button early in his innings.

When you have all these X-factor players, the team is bound to aim for 200+ everytime they play. RCB, unsurprisingly, have been setting the same template this season, with their strike rate inside powerplay being 160+ and splashing up 201+ at the death.

At the Wankhede Stadium, RCB cannot miss out going gaga from ball one. Yes, MI now have Bumrah back but they don't have proper defensive bowlers. Both Deepak Chahar and Trent Boult could leak runs if targetted well, while the likes of Ashwani Kumar and Vignesh Puthur are still in nascent stages of their careers.

Hence, the visitors shouldn't move away from their ultra aggressive approach. If planned well, RCB could be successful on a red-soil Wankhede deck!

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#2 Get Suryakumar Yadav early in powerplay

2025 IPL - Lucknow Super Giants v Mumbai Indians - Source: Getty

There's hardly any Mumbai Indians batter in form whose name is not Suryakumar Yadav. While MI registered a 12-run loss against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their previous game, SKY shown that he's back in his element.

A stroke-filled 67 came after his magnificent cameo of 27* (off 9 balls) against KKR a game earlier. Also, SKY relishes batting at his home ground. At the Wankhede Stadium, he has a tremendous record of hitting 1110 runs at an immaculate average and a strike rate of 39.6 and 163.9, respectively.

RCB would need to see his back as soon as possible. One of the best ways to do it could be having Suryakumar enter early in the powerplay overs and make him face Josh Hazlewood.

The Australian pacer could be an ideal bowler to extract some movement off the Wankhede surface and we all know SKY looks a bit tentative early in his innings. Also, Hazlewood has had an edge over SKY in the past. Across five international innings, the tall speedster has got Suryakumar out thrice and has a tendency to dismiss him after every 9.66 runs.

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#1 Dominate both batting and bowling powerplays

Virat Kohli and Phil Salt for RCB in IPL 2025 Match 1- Source: Getty

Yes, the Mumbai Indians haven't been near their best and one of the major reasons for that is their inability to seize early momentum in the games.

Both the batting and bowling units have let them down in the powerplay overs. And it offers a golden opportunity for RCB to stake their claim over the five-time IPL champions.

The opening partnerships, mainly of Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton, have faltered massively. MI average just 25.75 and have lost eight wickets in the powerplay overs (second-worst) at IPL 2025 so far. With Rickelton new to the IPL and Rohit currently enduring a lean patch, the duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood could rattle the MI top-order.

With the ball, Mumbai haven't been better either. Despite having the two most successful new-ball bowlers in IPL history in Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar, MI have started poorly. They have taken five wickets in the powerplay so far, three of which came in just one match (vs KKR).

Also, MI have lost all three of their games when an opposition opener has scored a fifty or more. Rachin Ravindra, Sai Sudharsan, Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh have all piled misery on MI bowlers. Hence, both Kohli and Salt will have one major job to do - go unscathed and take the MI new-ball bowlers to the cleaners.