MI vs RCB head to head: Which team and players have had the upper hand over the years?

India's cricketing carnival is all set to return as defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) take on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the opening match of IPL 2021 on Friday, April 9. The MI vs RCB live streaming will commence at 7:30 PM (IST). While Mumbai will be led by Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli will captain Bangalore.

Over the years, the two sides have been a part of several memorable encounters and the clash on Friday promises to be the same. One of the most interesting battles to watch out for will be Virat Kohli vs Rohit Sharma, who are two pillars of Indian cricket. As MI gears up to take on RCB in the IPL 2021, let's take a look at the MI vs RCB head to head record and the leading players of the rivalry.

MI vs RCB live: MI vs RCB head to head record

Rohit Sharma's men are clear winners when it comes to the MI vs RCB h2h record. MI and RCB have locked horns with each other 29 times in the IPL. According to the MI vs RCB head to head record, it is the Mumbai Indians who lead the rivalry 19-10. During the last edition of the tournament, both teams battled it out in two league games and won one match each.

The first fixture between the two sides in IPL 2020 was a nail-biting contest that resulted in the game going into the Super Over, where it was RCB squad that secured a thrilling win. The Mumbai Indians squad returned the favour in the reverse fixture by beating RCB by five wickets. Mumbai Indians may have a psychological advantage over RCB but Virat Kohli's men also have a formidable team who can very well beat the defending champions.

Kieron Pollard and AB de Villiers lead run-scoring charts in MI vs RCB fixtures

Kieron Pollard has scored the most runs in the MI vs RCB fixtures with 537 runs to his name in 23 matches. Pollard is followed by Rohit Sharma who has amassed 478 runs in 21 games while playing for MI against RCB. As far as RCB are concerned, it is AB de Villiers who has scored the most runs in MI vs RCB games. The South African veteran has amassed 726 runs in 23 games. De Villiers is followed by RCB skipper Virat Kohli who has notched up 637 runs against Mumbai in 27 matches.

Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal lead wicket-taking charts in MI vs RCB fixtures

Jasprit Bumrah has bagged the most number of wickets against in MI vs RCB matches. The right-arm pacer has picked 19 wickets in 15 matches at an average of 23.05 and an economy rate of 7.55. Bumrah is followed by Kieron Pollard who has grabbed 11 wickets against RCB in 23 games at an average of 26.45 and an economy rate of 8.55. On the other hand, for RCB, it is Yuzvendra Chahal who has picked the maximum wickets in MI vs RCB matches. Chahal has 19 wickets to his name in 13 matches against his former team MI at an average of 21.78 and an economy rate of 8.28. 

Mumbai Indians squad

Rohit Sharma (Captain), Quinton de Kock, Jasprit Bumrah, Chris Lynn, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Trent Boult, Krunal Pandya,   Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Anmolpreet Singh, Saurabh Tiwary, Aditya Tare, Anukul Roy, Mohsin Khan, Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Adam Milne, Nathan Coulter Nile, Piyush Chawla, James Neesham, Yudhvir Charak, Marco Jansen, Arjun Tendulkar.

RCB squad

Virat Kohli (Captain), AB de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Josh Philippe, Pavan Deshpande, Shahbaz Ahmed, Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams and Harshal Patel, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Sachin Baby, Kyle Jamieson, KS Bharat, Rajat Patidar, Dan Christian and Suyash Prabhudessai.

SOURCE: RCB & MI INSTAGRAM