IPL 2020: RCB vs MI Game Plan 1- The need for Moeen Ali 

The tenth match of the IPL 2020 tournament between the blockbuster teams, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians, could all be about match-ups. Here, we take a look at a key game plan that could play a role in the tenth game of IPL 2020 –RCB vs MI. RCB vs MI – Should RCB shuffle […]
 
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IPL 2020: RCB vs MI Game Plan 1- The need for Moeen Ali 

The tenth match of the IPL 2020 tournament between the blockbuster teams, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians, could all be about match-ups. Here, we take a look at a key game plan that could play a role in the tenth game of IPL 2020 –RCB vs MI.

RCB vs MI – Should RCB shuffle their line-up?

Even though RCB won their first match against SRH, it was known that their playing XI needs changes. Chris Morris’ exclusion was understandable because he had a side-strain as confirmed by Mike Hesson, the Director of Operations at RCB. However, the surprise was the debut of Joshua Philippe, the Aussie youngster.

Also ReadRCB vs MI MyTeam11 Prediction for IPL 2020: MyTeam11 Team, Probable Playing XI and Fantasy Cricket Tips

RCB’s training-camp footages rose the expectations of AB de Villiers playing as a wicketkeeper-batsman. However, that was not the case as Philippe was handed the cap ahead of Parthiv Patel. Philippe is talented – no doubt – he is a good player of pace as well as spin. However, he had not played even a single match in Asia – in first-class, List A or T20 cricket – before his IPL debut. 

So, do RCB trust the youngster enough to invest an overseas spot on him? It seems that RCB don’t want to continue with Parthiv Patel. To be fair, it would be a good call if RCB had the resources. But, after the squad construction, RCB need to play Parthiv unless de Villiers keeps the wicket. 

IPL 2020: RCB vs MI Game Plan 1- The need for Moeen Ali 

The inclusion of Parthiv breaks the opening duo of Finch & Padikkal, and makes RCB a non-versatile batting side. But, RCB should have thought this during the auction. 

Parthiv is not a great player of spin – he hardly lasts after the powerplay – but he adds a decent flair in the powerplay against not-so-quick pacers. They need to give him clear instructions – to maximise the powerplay. However, if Parthiv opens – where does Padikkal bat? It might sound weird given RCB started with him as an opener – but Padikkal could be used as a floater in the middle-overs if required. 

Also ReadIPL 2020: RCB vs MI Game Plan 2 – How RCB can tangle MI with Chahal – Zampa

The other case is they could drop Aaron Finch, again a bit of an unorthodox option. In this case, Parthiv could open with Virat Kohli, who is a very good T20 opener. And, Padikkal could be slotted at No. 3 to take on the spinners in the middle overs. 

Mumbai Indians’ have a very good new-ball bowling attack. In the match against KKR, Pattinson and other MI pacers targeted Sunil Narine with short balls. The same could happen with Devdutt. Pattinson can operate at a high speed and the youngster Devdutt might not find it easy to tackle the Aussie paceman. 

RCB vs MI – The need for Moeen Ali 

The inclusion of Parthiv will mean that RCB can get in Moeen Ali – their best power-hitter of spin bowling. Mumbai Indians are expected to have two spinners – Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya – in their playing XI. Now, since both are favourable match-ups for Moeen, this should help RCB.

In the previous match between these two teams – at Wankhede Stadium – Krunal bowled just one over. Moeen Ali came at the crease in the eighth over which forced Rohit Sharma to hold back Krunal. Krunal bowled just one over and conceded 10 runs in that match. 

This also meant that AB de Villiers didn’t face Krunal enough. Krunal has got out ABD four times in the IPL. The same can help RCB in this match a well. de Villiers has not scored at a very quick rate against left-arm orthodox spinners – a strike-rate of 113.5 while facing 89 balls since 2017. Kohli too does not have a great strike rate (128.6) against SLA bowlers. 

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Moeen – on the other hand – scores at a strike rate of 150 against SLA spinners and is yet to get out – albeit a sample size of 14 balls. But, there is very little doubt about his ability against such bowlers. If Moeen – along with Padikkal if needed – can attack Krunal successfully, MI would be in trouble while RCB would enjoy.

Since 2017 in the non-death-overs in the IPL, Krunal has bowled just 15% of his total balls against the left-handed batsmen. His economy against the southpaws is 8 – about one more run per over as compared to the overall economy. 

The other MI spinner – Rahul Chahar – is a good bowler and could help MI. Chahar does not bowl a lot of googlies – which are a threat for Kohli and ABD. In IPL 2020, he has bowled just seven googlies in two matches. Kohli is a good player of traditional leg-spin bowling and so is de Villiers. However, knowing the weakness of the duo, the team management would ask him to bowl more googlies in this match. 

In the previous meeting of Chahar and de Villiers at Wankhede, the latter faced 13 balls and scored just 14 runs. 

Whilst googly continues to be an effective weapon against the star duo as well as the southpaws, Chahar bowls at a high speed too. In IPL 2020, his average bowling speed is over 91 km/h. Thus, RCB batsmen need to be a bit cautious against the leg-spinner. However, Moeen and other batters could smash the traditional leg-spin. 

Besides adding batting fire in the batting line-up of RCB, Moeen can chip in with the ball as well. His IPL economy of under seven is quite impressive. And, he matches well against the batting line-up of Mumbai Indians. Even though Quinton de Kock is not a good player of wrist spin, he is not very great against finger spin as well. In his previous IPL meeting against Moeen, the latter got de Kock out in two balls. 

Rohit Sharma is also susceptible to in-turners. Sine 2017 in the IPL, he averages 30.3 and has a strike rate of 115 against off-spinners. Thus, Moeen along with Washington Sundar can operate in the powerplay for a few overs. 

Moeen could also do well against the other southpaws – Saurabh Tiwary, Krunal Pandya and Ishan Kishan (if he plays). Against left-handed batsmen in the non-death-overs, the off-spinner averages about 22 and has an economy 6.48 in the IPL.