Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers and Chris Gayle – the three superstars of T20 cricket could finally play together for RCB in IPL 2017, with the Mumbai Indians hoping those three don't take the game away from them at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday.
With Kohli returning to the lineup after missing the first three games of the Indian Premier League season with a shoulder problem and De Villiers making his comeback in the last game, RCB have as strong a squad as they could have hoped for this season – KL Rahul is the only one missing, when he was ruled out for the entire IPL 2017 campaign through injury.
So, will Kohli and De Villiers light up the Chinnaswamy, and will Gayle join them in the fun if he gets a game? So many questions to answer, so many predictions to make.
Here is a look at how RCB vs Mumbai Indians could play out on Good Friday.
If RCB bat first:
Gayle does find a place in the team and the West Indian strides in with Kohli, determined to entertain the crowd in Bengaluru. The two RCB openers do just that, firing 71 runs in the first six overs, with De Villiers then coming in for Gayle, who is picked up by Harbhajan Singh.
Time for some pure artistry from Kohli and De Villiers.
Kohli, initially, takes the pressure off De Villiers, by keeping the run rate going along nicely, and once the South African has got his eye in, it is carnage time.
The sixes rain in, so do the fours and try as Rohit Sharma might, he can do little as the Mumbai Indians bowlers are smashed, caressed and driven left, right and centre.
RCB finish on 210/4 – a few wickets do fall towards the end – leaving Mumbai Indians with a mountain, and then some, to climb.
They start the climb well, with Jos Buttler looking in the mood as he smashes Aniket Choudhary for a couple of boundaries, with his England teammate Tymal Mills also going for a few.
Parthiv Patel makes a fairly quick 22, before falling to Yuzvendra Chahal, but this is the game that Rohit Sharma finally finds some form in IPL 2017.
After three failures, Rohit starts timing the ball like he normally does and with Buttler, the two Mumbai Indians batsmen put on a strong partnership.
The Chinnaswamy might be a chasing ground, but a target of 211 just seems to be beyond the Mumbai Indians. After Buttler falls for a well-made 52, Nitish Rana, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Poillard and Hardik Pandya all give it a good go, but MI still finish 19 runs short.
If Mumbai Indians bat first:
Buttler falls in the third over, Parthiv follows suit in the next, leaving Rohit and Rana to rebuild the innings. They do that pretty well, with Rohit anchoring the innings to perfection.
Kieron Pollard comes in and makes full use of the small dimensions at the Chinnaswamy, banging three sixes in one over, with the West Indian making 42 from 20 balls.
The Pandya brothers also have some six and four-hitting fun as the Mumbai Indians finish strongly to get to 194.
Kohli and Gayle are a touch circumspect to begin with, knowing just how important the opening partnership is when chasing a big total. After a couple of quiet overs, though, the fours come from Kohli's blade and the sixes arrive from Gayle's willow.
Gayle, though, holes out in the deep in the fifth over, bowled by Harbhajan, which brings De Villiers to the crease.
De Villiers showed why he cannot be considered human in the last match, and, again, the South African goes about building a big innings by taking his time initially.
Kohli, however, is in the groove now as RCB stay near the required run rate. De Villiers slowly but surely gets into his zone as well, and once these two find their rhythm, there really is no stopping them.
The Chinnaswamy crowd are treated to a chasing clinic by Kohli and De Villiers with the two taking RCB home with more than enough balls to spare.
