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All eyes will be on the 39th game of the Indian T20 League when Mumbai and Bangalore will be up against each other. Both teams have had a disappointing restart to the tournament and have interestingly lost to the same teams, Chennai and Kolkata. While Bangalore has retained its third spot in the points table, Mumbai has slipped to sixth place. India’s captain and vice-captain will be leading their respective franchises and will look to get back in the groove. But who has an edge going into the game? Let’s have a look through our team of the day prediction based on the given factors:
- Head-to-Head record
The Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai enjoys an upper hand in H2H fixtures over Bangalore. Both the teams have played 28 matches against each other in the T20 league where Mumbai has come out victorious on 17 instances, while Bangalore has managed 11 wins. However, if we look at the previous five matches record, Mumbai leads there as well with a 3-2 record in their favour. The last time both teams met, Bangalore managed to win the game by two wickets.
- UAE factor
In the 2020 edition of the league, which was conducted in the UAE, both teams faced each other twice and won a game each. Bangalore pulled off a win in super over in the first encounter at Dubai Cricket Stadium, while Mumbai won comprehensively at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi. This time again, the match will be played in Dubai.
Looking at records in UAE individually, both teams don’t have an impressive outing record here. Bangalore has lost their last seven games in the UAE, while Mumbai has lost four of the seven games they have played here.
- Form of Players
If we look at the form of players, both teams have a struggling middle-order. Bangalore, in particular, failed to capitalize on the start they got from their openers against Chennai while were bowled out for a mere 92 against Kolkata. Although Bangalore’s skipper Virat Kohli looked in good touch against Chennai, the other two big names, De Villiers and Maxwell, are yet to fire. Meanwhile, for Mumbai, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, and Saurabh Tiwary have not impressed so much either. However, Mumbai’s bowling lineup is way too good as compared to Bangalore’s with plenty of international experience in the hut.
Looking at the three factors, Mumbai clearly has an edge over Bangalore and thus becomes our Team of the Day.