Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians, 7th Match - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Toss - RCB opt to bowl

As expected, RCB opt to bowl in their first game at home this season. Virat wants to chase. As widely speculated, Bumrah is playing tonight. Looks like he is completely fit. And guess what? Malinga, who had just arrived last night, slots straight into the side. He was MI's mentor last season but has regained form and fitness to get back on the pitch. Remember, he is still the best bowler in the history of the IPL so for him to come back and form a partnership with Bumrah once again can prove to be the key factor for MI. Ben Cutting makes way for him. And Mayank Markande has replaced Rasikh Salam. The home side are unchanged.

Teams:

Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Yuvraj Singh, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Mitchell McClenaghan, Lasith Malinga, Mayank Markande, Jasprit Bumrah

Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Virat Kohli(c), Parthiv Patel(w), Moeen Ali, AB de Villiers, Shimron Hetmyer, Shivam Dube, Colin de Grandhomme, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj

The Bumrah puzzle

You might have the likes of Kohli, Rohit and de Villiers playing tonight but all eyes will be on a certain Jasprit Bumrah. He is a vital cog in the Indian lineup and carries plenty of hopes going into the World Cup. The team management would certainly not want to risk him if he is isn't 100% fit. Bumrah did get injured in the first game but appears to be on track to play tonight. But is it worth the punt on the long run? You tell us how Bumrah should be managed for the rest of the IPL.

Build up

India's captain is up against India's limited-overs vice-captain tonight in another clash of the biggies. Both Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians have made a losing start to the new campaign but out of those two losses, the one the Bangalore-based outfit suffered managed to grab the most attention. And understandably so. MI are used to making these slow starts. RCB on the other hand have already been under pressure for a while for not delivering a title despite possessing some of the biggest names in world cricket over the years.

And now to make matters worse, the batting unit crumbled on a spinning surface in Chennai in the tournament opener. Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers played rash shots to lose their wickets whereas the exciting new recruit Shimron Hetmyer managed to run himself out in tame fashion. The batting is expected to revolve around these three with Moeen Ali and Parthiv Patel remaining key figures at various junctures. The bowling attack, which has traditionally been their weak suit, will be tested too against a strong MI batting lineup and with Coulter-Nile still not available, RCB look at bringing Tim Southee into the equation.

MI, on the other hand, were stunned by an assault at the hands of Rishabh Pant the other night and that proved to the difference. Mitchell McClenaghan looked good once again chipping with the wickets so the away side will be fairly confident since they look perfect allround on paper. What can veteran Yuvraj Singh come up with tonight after his half-century against DC? We will find out soon. Welcome to the live blog of this exciting contest at the Chinnaswamy. The pitch is going to be the focus tonight. Do we have the old Chinnaswamy back? Time will tell.