The fifth match of the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League will see Royal Challengers Bangalore hosting five-time champions Mumbai Indians at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. 

Notably, the Rohit Sharma-led side was very poor in the last season, finishing at the bottom of the table. Thus, they will aim to make a strong comeback this year while Bangalore will eye to finally bring the trophy home.

However, the Faf du Plessis-led side suffered a lot of setbacks ahead of the tournament. Star pacer Josh Hazlewood is ruled out from the first half of the tournament while Rajat Patidar too is doubtful. When it comes to Glenn Maxwell, he was sensational in the intra-squad practice match but it needs to be seen if he can show his class in the main tournament. 

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli will once again be key for the franchise. The former skipper has finally returned back to form in white-ball cricket and if he manages to have a spectacular season, RCB can very well fight for the prestigious trophy. With the ball, Mohammed Siraj will have to take more responsibility since Hazlewood and Wanindu Hasaranga are not there at the moment.

Coming to Mumbai, their batting looks sorted but their bowling remains a concern. Jasrprit Bumrah is already ruled out of the tournament and that’s a massive setback. Jofra Archer meanwhile will have to take the responsibility to deliver time and again while Sandeep Warrier can be an important part of the squad.

When it comes to the batters, eyes will be on Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav, who are in poor form at the moment. However, returning to the T20 format, SKY can once again live up to the potential and wreak havoc. It will be interesting to see how MI use Cameron Green in the forthcoming season.