Two powerful batting line-ups face each other on Tuesday. But the contest in Guwahati, between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians, may not be all about batting fireworks.

That’s because there will also be some fine bowlers involved in the game, whose success or failure can be match-turning.

Mumbai, who lost their last game to Delhi Capitals, will have more work to do. The Royals have won both their matches so far, though their last win came in a humdinger which could have swayed the other way too.

Jasprit Bumrah will obviously be Mumbai’s biggest bet to contain an explosive Royals batting attack. Bumrah has been doing Bumrah things — no-nonsense stuff peppered with yorkers and all — alright. It’s the other bowlers on the Mumbai roster who will need to up their game by a few notches.

In their opening game of the season, Mumbai had conceded a 200-plus total against the Kolkata Knight Riders. That it didn’t hurt them in the end was because of their superior batting prowess. But that may not be the case always and so the likes of Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur and Trent Boult (if he plays) will have to be
extra vigilant.

The key for Mumbai will be Hardik Pandya. The skipper missed the last match with illness but appears to be available for Tuesday’s fixture. Hardik is crucial to Mumbai on multiple fronts — he’s the skipper, he’s a reliable and destructive presence in the middle order, and, most importantly, with the ball is a proper executioner nowadays. So if Hardik plays, Mumbai will undoubtedly be a better team.

But all that will come to nought unless they get rid of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal quickly on Tuesday. It’s a royal opening pair that the Royals have.