Raipur is set to witness its first IPL game in nearly a decade. Some of the biggest names in the cricketing world will be seen playing at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium on Sunday. Fans who come to the ground will be keen to see a great battle between Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli with the bat in hand.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) may have lost their previous game to LSG, but their performances in IPL 2026 have been phenomenal. The batting has clicked with Kohli, Padikkal, and skipper Rajat Patidar proving to be consistent in the top order. Tim David’s power hitting gives Bengaluru the much-needed muscle towards the end of the innings. Veteran seamers Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been sensational with the new ball, while Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma have offered good support.
Injuries and bad form this season have plagued the Mumbai Indians (MI). The former IPL champions are currently ninth in the points table. Barring the win in their last match, the Men in Blue and Gold have been pretty ordinary this season. Rohit Sharma’s return was a massive boost, but the bowling has been a huge cause of concern. Jasprit Bumrah has endured an awful season with the ball, while Allah Ghazanfar has been the only shining light so far this campaign.
Here are the top three player battles to watch out for in the RCB vs MI encounter
Jasprit Bumrah vs Virat Kohli
Two of India’s biggest match-winners in the last decade are set to do battle on Sunday evening. jasprit bumrah has dismissed Virat Kohli on five occasions, with the batting maestro managing to score 159 runs from 108 balls against the pacer with a strike-rate of 147. In the last game between these two sides earlier this season, it was Kohli who came out on top with his knock of 50, which came off 38 balls and made the seamer look pedestrian.
Josh Hazlewood vs Rohit Sharma
Veteran cricketers with plenty of battles under their belt face off one more time. Rohit Sharma scored a match-winning 84 on his return to the side against LSG in the last match. The veteran batter has struggled against Hazlewood due to the Australian pacer’s penchant to bowl a tight line and length. Hazlewood has dismissed Rohit once in the IPL, and the contest between the two stars in the powerplay overs will be the one to watch out for.
Ryan Rickelton vs Bhuvneshwar Kumar
In a battle of the heavyweights, the two players will be keen to outdo each other and hand their side the early say in the game. Ryan Rickelton has been MI’s best batter this campaign with 380 runs, out of which 243 runs have come in the last three matches. Kumar, on the other hand, has 17 wickets and is a deadly bowler to face in the powerplay overs—the 36-year-old bowls well against the left-handed batters in the powerplay overs with his prodigious swing. The player who wins this contest can see his side hold the aces during the course of the game at Raipur on Sunday.
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