Battleground of retribution

Mumbai Indians will aim to address their bowling woes as they look to exact revenge on tabletoppers Rajasthan Royals in their reverse fixture of the IPL 2024 on MondayWith three wins in last four games MI have hit the recovery road to reach sixth spot in the points table after a poor start this season while RR are on a rampaging run as they occupy the top spot with 12 pointsThe fivetime champions survived a late onslaught from Ashutosh Sharma to eke out a ninerun win over Punjab Kings in the last gameIt was once again Jasprit Bumrah who was left to do the heavy lifting as he stood out with his three wickets The star India pacer shone with the new ball and then returned to produce a breakthrough and he did all this without conceding muchWith 13 scalps Bumrah tops the list of the most wickets this IPL He also has the secondbest economy of just under six runs but while he has been on the mark his bowling colleagues have struggledGerald Coetzee too has made an impact with 12 wickets but has gone for runs But Akash Madhwal and skipper Hardik Pandya have been inconsistentWhile Shreyas Gopal has taken a wicket each in the three games he has played so far MI also need to use the experience of veteran Afghanistan allrounder Mohammed Nabi as a bowlerIn batting former skipper Rohit Sharmas scintillating century albeit in a losing cause has been the highlight while Ishan Kishan has been inconsistent Hardik too hasnt made much of an impact so far while Tilak Verma has done moderately wellA huge positive for MI is Suryakumar Yadavs return to form His 53ball 78 against PBKS was the cornerstone of MI innings and on his day he can destroy any attackThe last time MI faced the RR bowling unit they looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights as Trent Boult removed three of their toporder batters for naught and the veteran leftarm pacer will again be a massive threatAlso ReadMIrsquos Pollard David finedAvesh Khan has been entrusted with the responsibility of bowling at the death and he has done well Kuldeep Sen too showed his skills but he needs to work on his economyWith 12 wickets legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal has been RRs most valuable player in the bowling department though offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin has struggledFor RR Riyan Parag has been the batter of the season The young Assam batter has reinvented himself and his 318 runs is one of the reasons why RR find themselves at the top of the pecking orderWhile the batting has revolved around him skipper Sanju Samson too has produced some fine knocks for the team aggregating 276 runs so farEnglands Jos Buttler singlehandedly chased down a 200plus total to win RR their last match against Kolkata Knight Riders but the form of fellow opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has been a matter of concern as he has failed to capitalise on his startsShimron Hetymer has also hit top gear when needed rescuing the team against PBKS the other dayWith agency inputs