IPL 2022 RR vs MI Preview - Mumbai begin the task of finding a silver lining

Key match stats RR vs MI

Pitch Stats – DY Patil Stadium

Average first innings score: 170
Average first innings winning score: 185
Average powerplay score: 45
Win % batting 1st vs batting 2nd: 46% / 54%

Team form RR vs MI
RR – WWWLW
MI – LLLLL
Recent meetings: RR won by 23 runs

RR vs MI Preview

With 6 games to go in IPL 2022, Mumbai Indians are left with little alternative but to consider the rest of their season as an exercise in damage limitation and then trying to find something to build upon for next year.

At the very least MI as well as the likes of CSK can take comfort from the fact that all being well with Covid then sides should be able to return to their home venues next year and build squads to suit those conditions, a method that has proved very successful for both those teams since the inception of the IPL.

Add to that the fact that MI will have Jofra Archer available to them plus an opportunity to right a couple of wrongs in the mini-auction and all of sudden things might not look quite so bleak in 10 months time.

Equally, they need something to build upon, some form of momentum to carry into next year and at the moment they simply seem to have forgotten how to win.

It's been a week since Mumbai's defeat against LSG and it's difficult to know whether that break is a good thing or not. Certainly for the likes of Ishan Kishan and Kieron Pollard, 2 players that MI would have hoped to have major impacts on this season, it would almost certainly be a positive to step away from cricket for a couple of days and clear their minds but with the bio bubbles in place that becomes incredibly difficult and as we've seen over the last couple of years the mental health and wellbeing of players is suffering as a result.

Things won't get any easier for MI today as they face one of the form teams of the tournament in Rajasthan Royals who continue to look strong contenders for a 2nd title.

What was really impressive about the Royals win over RCB was the way a couple of their fringe players stepped up when they were needed. The likes of Buttler, Chahal and Hetmyer have been brilliant for them so far this season but it was the impact of Kuldeep Sen and Riyan Parag, 2 players who've largely been spectators for the first half of the season that got the job done.

Matches	Balls faced	Runs Scored
1-7 of IPL 2022	36	48
vs RCB	31	56

Riyan Parag had faced just 6 overs coming into the match with RCB but when he was needed delivered a match winning half-century

We return to the DY Patil Stadium for this one which is where the 2 teams met earlier in the season. A brilliant Jos Buttler hundred separated the sides on that occasion but batting in Navi Mumbai has become increasingly difficult since then with just a solitary total in excess of 180 in the last 4 games.

One final fact is that today is Rohit Sharma's birthday! I wonder what he wished for? A half-century? A win? A new e-scooter? I guess we'll find out...

RR vs MI head to head

MI bowling vs RR batting

If Jasprit Bumrah doesn't bowl one of the first 2 overs in this game then I'd suggest that the Mumbai Indians brain trust needs to be taken out back and shot!

His head to head against Buttler (dismissed 4 times in 55 balls) and Padikkal (dismissed twice in 18 balls) is very impressive. Statistically, if he bowls 2 overs at them, he'll get one of them out...

Burmrah combined head to head vs Buttler and Padikkal

The tactic of holding Bumrah back until the end of the innings hasn't worked! Mumbai are still conceding more runs at the death than any other team in IPL 2022 (economy of 12.4 an over) and striking early against this Rajasthan team will be crucial.

The Royals opted to promote Ravi Ashwin to number 3 in their win against RCB after losing Padikkal in the powerplay and while he made a bright and breezy contribution there are still questions unanswered about the Royals middle order.

Indeed, the form of Buttler has meant that Rajasthan's middle order hasn't been tested on a regular basis but the fact that they continue to chop and change both batting order and personnel suggests that they aren't 100% convinced by their options either and early wickets could expose a weakness.

Of course Bumrah can't do it all himself in his allotted 4 overs despite his excellent record against most of this Rajasthan line-up and the Royals batsmen have been very clever in targeting the right bowler at the right time in matches this season.

Riley Meredith combined head to head vs Buttler, Samson and Hetmyer

Take for example their win vs Mumbai earlier this year where Buttler took Basil Thampi for 26 from an over before Hetmyer did something similar to Kieron Pollard later in the innings. Take those overs out of the equation and MI would have been chasing a target of around 170 but instead found the 194 they were set too much of a challenge.

It's very difficult to predict who will be in the MI bowling attack this year but as the examples here show, it seems RR fancy their chances against whoever they pick and will be happy to simply see off the threat from Bumrah while making up the scoring against the rest.

Unadkat combined head to head vs Buttler, Samson and Padikkal

RR bowling vs MI batting

If you were looking to give Rohit a birthday present then a fixture at this venue would not be it as his career stats at the DY Patil stadium demonstrate.

Rohit Sharma T20 career stats at the DY Patil

Meanwhile, fellow opener Ishan Kishan looks to be very short of form and confidence and comes into this fixture to face a couple of bowlers who have done well against him the past including Kiwi Trent Boult who incidentally also bowls well at Rohit Sharma (dismissed 4 times from 47 balls).

One player who does have a better record against this Royal's bowling attack in Suryakumar Yadav who of course was unavailable for the reverse fixture between these 2 sides earlier this year.

Sky has shown some good form so far this season and really needs to come in at number 3 ahead of Dewald Brevis who celebrated his 19th birthday yesterday. Brevis has shown some star quality but not the know how to build an innings at this level which is what you want from the man coming in at first drop especially when your 2 openers are in such patchy form!

Sky combined head to head vs Rajasthan's 4 primary bowlers (Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Chahal and Ashwin)

All stats used in this blog are from my own database. Images are my own with the exception of player profiles and background images which are used under a creative commons license or otherwise royalty free