Mumbai: Ahead of the big clash between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Brabourne stadium on Monday, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra came up with a prediction.
Chopra reckons Bangalore, despite the loss against Delhi in their opener, is going to beat Mumbai.
“Bangalore are coming after losing the first match. The match will be in Brabourne, where RCB have played previously but Mumbai haven’t. If you do woman-to-woman marking, you will feel the scale is tilted towards Mumbai but I am going with RCB,” he said on his Youtube channel.
Suggesting Elysse Perry should be used more with the ball, Chopra reckoned Smriti needs to get a big one early.
“From Bangalore’s point of view, Smriti has to score runs and not get out against an off-spinner because Hayley Matthews will bowl against her, I have no doubt in my mind. Sophie Devine needs runs and they should give a slightly bigger role to Ellyse Perry – get her to bowl a little more,” Chopra said.
MI-W vs RCB-W Squads
Mumbai Indians Women Squad: Yastika Bhatia(w), Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Amelia Kerr, Pooja Vastrakar, Issy Wong, Amanjot Kaur, Humaira Kazi, Jintimani Kalita, Saika Ishaque, Heather Graham, Chloe Tryon, Sonam Yadav, Neelam Bisht, Priyanka Bala, Dhara Gujjar
Royal Challengers Bangalore Women Squad: Smriti Mandhana(c), Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Disha Kasat, Richa Ghosh(w), Heather Knight, Kanika Ahuja, Asha Shobana, Megan Schutt, Preeti Bose, Renuka Thakur Singh, Dane van Niekerk, Indrani Roy, Erin Burns, Poonam Khemnar, Sahana Pawar, Shreyanka Patil, Komal Zanzad