RCB need Mumbai Indians to beat Delhi Capitals today to qualify for the playoffs
MUMBAI: Keep an eye on the stands at Wankhede. A Virat Kohli or a Faf du Plessis or even the entire Royal Challengers Bangalore squad might be found sitting there on Saturday evening, cheering for Mumbai Indians. Kohli and du Plessis themselves joked about this on Thursday evening, after their comprehensive win over the Gujarat Titans to inch closer to the play-offs.
But the joke is getting serious. RCB's entry into the playoffs depends on the result of the match between Delhi Capitals and the Mumbai Indians. Should Delhi lose the game, RCB go in as Delhi will end with 14 points. A simple win for Delhi should take them through as their net run rate (+0. 255) is far superior to RCB's -0. 253.
So, Delhi must win to make it to the final four. Remember, despite their eight-wicket win over Gujarat, with eight balls to spare - which is quite a cushion in T20. RCB will mull over their heavy losses to Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Should any of Rishabh Pant's men - think: David Warner, Mitch Marsh, Sarfaraz Khan, Rovman Powell and Pant himself - get among runs, or the likes of Khaleel, Nortje, Thakur, Patel or Yadav run through the MI line-up; the RCB will once again bow out of the tournament empty-handed.
It is a scary proposition facing a team that's angry and has nothing to lose except its own cool. That's precisely the kind of team Delhi Capitals will be running into when they take on the Mumbai Indians. The five-time champions, going through a rebuilding exercise after having to let go of their well-oiled set up ahead of the mega auctions earlier this year, had long exited the 2022 race.
And yet, they'll be more than happy to play catalysts ahead of the playoffs, and not mind giving their arch-rivals - both Delhi and Bangalore - some nail-biting time.
Mumbai have this one game to experiment, should they plan to. They haven't tried Arjun Tendulkar yet in the tournament, after picking him once again at the player auction.
Jasprit Bumrah has found his rhythm back in the tournament, one that had gone missing briefly earlier, perhaps for the lack of a pace-partner to complement.
With the other bowlers too looking to make up for what is already a lost opportunity, in whatever measure possible, MI will look to bow out of this season with a happier memory. For the Capitals to clinch this, the trick lies in how Pant rotates his bowlers.
