Rohit Sharma is likely to miss his third game in a row when Mumbai Indians take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday with both teams aiming to secure their spot in the IPL play-offs.
While defending champions Mumbai are sitting on top of the table despite their eight-wicket hammering by Rajasthan Royals with 14 points, Virat Kohli-led RCB are also on the same number of points from 11 games.
A win for either side on Wednesday should be enough to help seal their spot in the play-offs.
Rohit's fitness has become a subject of unwanted attention ahead of the game. Having missed the last two games due to a hamstring injury, Mumbai Indians skipper returned to the nets on Monday, a day when he was not named in the India squad for the Australia series.
There is still no conclusive update on his fitness from either Mumbai Indians or the BCCI.
In Rohit's absence, Mumbai are set to persist with both Saurabh Tiwary, while Ishan Kishan, who has played some scintillating knocks, is likely to be retained.
Quinton De Kock (374 runs) had a rare failure against Rajasthan and he would be keen to make an impact. Kishan (298 runs) and Suryakumar Yadav (283 runs) are among the leading run-scores who can go on the offensive against any attack.
The big-hitting prowess of Hardik Pandya (224 runs) was on display in the Royals game, when he plundered seven sixes.
Along with stand-in captain Kieron Pollard (214 runs) and Krunal Pandya (85 runs), he can take any attack to cleansers and their hard-hitting ability could prove to be the difference between the two sides.
Mumbai bowlers would be more than keen to forget the hammering they received from Rajasthan's Ben Stokes and Sanju Samson.
Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah have been lethal both at front and at the death, accounting for 33 wickets amongst themselves. For the third pacer's spot, Mumbai could choose between James Pattinson and Nathan Coulter Nile.
For RCB, Kohli (415 runs) would like to continue his splendid run in the tournament. Australian Aaron Finch (236 runs), young Devdutt Padikkal (343 runs) and AB de Villiers (324 runs) need to make an impact in the business end of the tournament and support their skipper.
De Villiers has shown time and again, why he is regarded as one of the best T20 batsmen by turning the clock back on few occasions. If the RCB top-order fires in unison, then they can pummel the Mumbai attack into submission.
The likes of Chris Morris, Moeen Ali and Gurkeerat Mann, who form the lower-middle order, are also capable of chipping in with useful cameos.
However, RCB have an injury scare on the bowling front with pacer Navdeep Saini suffering a split webbing. There is no clarity on his participation for the game against Mumbai.
In case he misses out, Chris Morris and Mohammad Siraj would need to shoulder greater responsibility along with Isuru Udana.
Teams:
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (captain), Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Chris Lynn, Dhawal Kulkarni, Digvijay Deshmukh, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, James Pattison, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Mitchell McClenaghan, Mohsin Khan, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Prince Balwant Rai, Quinton De Kock, Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Tiwary, Sherfane Rutherford, Suryakumar Yadav, Trent Boult.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (captain), Aaron Finch, Devdutt Padikkal, Parthiv Patel, AB de Villiers, Gurkeerat Singh, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Navdeep Saini, Dale Steyn, Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa, Isuru Udana, Moeen Ali, Josh Philippe, Pawan Negi, Pavan Deshpande, Mohammad Siraj, Umesh Yadav.
Match starts at 7.30pm IST.
