After the drop Chris Gayle experiment didn't work out as planned, the Jamaican could return to the Royal Challengers Bangalore batting lineup when they play the Mumbai Indians in an IPL 2017 match at the Wankhede on Monday.
Gayle was left out in the last match, against the Rising Pune Supergiant, with Travis Head opening the innings with Virat Kohli.
Head, unfortunately, could not quite wrap his head around that particular position for this game, and with RCB suffering another meltdown with the bat, it led to another defeat.
That loss has put RCB out of contention for a place in the Indian Premier League playoffs, and that too with four matches still left to play for the finalists from last season.
All they can do now is show some pride and try and get those wins back in order to close out the season, and freeing up Gayle by just asking him to see ball, hit ball might be the way to go.
With the pressure now off for RCB, maybe they can start playing the cricket everyone expected them to play from the start of IPL 2017, or at least, from the time AB De Villiers and Kohli returned to the side from injury.
While Gayle will be hopeful of a return – and the Wankhede Stadium pitch should help his style of batting – RCB might consider bringing Mandeep Singh back into the playing XI as well, at the expense of Sachin Baby.
They could also go with Vishnu Vinod, who could then keep wickets and allow Kedar Jadhav to just concentrate on his batting.
Tymal Mills missed another game with a slight problem, but could return to the playing XI for Adam Milne is passed fit.
The Mumbai Indians pulled off a thrilling victory in their last game in the most exciting of matches in IPL 2017 so far, when they topped the Gujarat Lions via a Super Over.
Such wins will only give you more confidence going forward, and MI will know a win against RCB on Monday will not only put them clear of KKR at the top of the table, but will also pretty much seal their spot in the playoffs – eight wins is usually the magic number for qualification.
Having won their last match, albeit by making it harder for themselves than it needed to be, MI are unlikely to change their playing XI around.
Ambati Rayudu is fit, but with Parthiv Patel also showing strong form with the bat – if the wicketkeeper had not been in the greatest of form, the Mumbai Indians could have swapped Parthiv for Rayudu with Jos Buttler keeping wickets – it is difficult to see the batsman coming back in.
Nitish Rana hasn't been great in the last few games, but the left-hander's early season runs should keep him in the team.
Lasith Malinga came in for an ill Mitchell Johnson in the last game and did well, picking up two wickets, so the fast bowler should keep his place, even if the Australian has recovered.
Confirmed playing XI:
Mumbai Indians: Parthiv Patel, Jos Buttler, Nitish Rana, Rohit Sharma (C), Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Karn Sharma, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (C), Mandeep Singh, AB De Villiers, Travis Head, Kedar Jadhav, Shane Watson, Pawan Negi, Adam Milne, S Aravind, Yuzvendra Chahal, Aniket Choudhary.
