{"id":2131,"date":"2026-04-12T09:15:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T09:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/irfan-pathan-tips-mi-slightly-ahead-in-mi-vs-rcb-clash-at-wankhede"},"modified":"2026-04-12T09:15:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T09:15:17","slug":"irfan-pathan-tips-mi-slightly-ahead-in-mi-vs-rcb-clash-at-wankhede","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/irfan-pathan-tips-mi-slightly-ahead-in-mi-vs-rcb-clash-at-wankhede","title":{"rendered":"Irfan Pathan Tips MI Slightly Ahead in MI vs RCB Clash at Wankhede"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Mumbai Indians (MI) and defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) lock horns on Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Match 20 of the IPL at Wankhede Stadium. The blockbuster contest is expected to draw special attention for the long-running Rohit Sharma\u2013Virat Kohli rivalry. Ahead of the clash, former India left-arm quick Irfan Pathan suggested RCB could carry a touch of momentum into this IPL 2026 meeting with Mumbai, though he feels MI hold a marginal edge when the squads are weighed side by side. Both franchises arrive after suffering defeats to Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati, adding extra pressure and intrigue to an already high-stakes encounter. Pathan also noted that while RCB looked sharp during their early home outings, their performance tailed off once they began playing away games.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRCB are travelling now. When they played their first two games at home, they won comfortably, but the moment they went on the road, they lost in Guwahati against Rajasthan Royals, so, there will be a few questions in the camp. I feel the game might be decided by which team bowls better in the end overs, and the toss will be an important factor too. RCB have the form, but in a man-to-man comparison, I feel Mumbai are slightly ahead,\u201d Pathan said on JioHotstar during the build-up to the league\u2019s \u2018Rivalry Week\u2019.<\/p>\n<h2>Death overs and toss could be decisive<\/h2>\n<p>Pathan stressed that how each side handles the final overs could prove decisive, particularly in situations where teams batting second often benefit from chasing pressure. Even with confidence stemming from RCB\u2019s most recent displays, he believes MI\u2019s overall balance and squad strength gives them the slight advantage in a direct comparison. With the contest poised to swing on fine margins, he also pointed to the toss as a key variable that could influence tactics and match-ups.<\/p>\n<h2>MI vs RCB: Predicted Playing 11s<\/h2>\n<h3>Mumbai Indians predicted XI<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Rohit Sharma<\/li>\n<li>Ryan Rickelton (wk)<\/li>\n<li>Tilak Varma<\/li>\n<li>Suryakumar Yadav<\/li>\n<li>Hardik Pandya (c)<\/li>\n<li>Naman Dhir<\/li>\n<li>Mitchell Santner<\/li>\n<li>Shardul Thakur<\/li>\n<li>Deepak Chahar<\/li>\n<li>Trent Boult<\/li>\n<li>Jasprit Bumrah<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Impact Sub:<\/b> Sherfane Rutherford<\/p>\n<h3>Royal Challengers Bengaluru predicted XI<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Virat Kohli<\/li>\n<li>Phil Salt\/Jacob Bethell<\/li>\n<li>Devdutt Padikkal<\/li>\n<li>Rajat Patidar (c)<\/li>\n<li>Jitesh Sharma (wk)<\/li>\n<li>Tim David<\/li>\n<li>Romario Shepherd<\/li>\n<li>Krunal Pandya<\/li>\n<li>Bhuvneshwar Kumar<\/li>\n<li>Abhinandan Singh<\/li>\n<li>Josh Hazlewood<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Impact Sub:<\/b> Suyash Sharma<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mumbai Indians (MI) and defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) lock horns on Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Match 20 of the IPL at Wankhede&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"Irfan Pathan on MI vs RCB IPL 2026 at Wankhede","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Irfan Pathan previews MI vs RCB at Wankhede, saying RCB may enter with momentum\u2014but MI still have the slight edge in IPL 2026 Match 20.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Irfan Pathan on MI vs RCB IPL 2026 at Wankhede<\/title>\n<meta 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