Big on promise but low on performance

Bangalore (PTI): Two teams that have shown the promise but failed to deliver on big occasions come face to face when Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore clash in their opening match of the Indian Premier League here on Thursday.

The Mumbai Indians are the big-spending side and have the Champions League Twenty20 Trophy to show for all the money shelled out on acquiring star players. Besides, Mumbai have also been runners-up once and semifinalists twice in the previous IPL seasons.

With Ricky Ponting as captain this time, Mumbai would be hoping to lay their hands on the IPL trophy for the first time.A In the batting department, Ambati Rayudu and Rohit Sharma would be looking to continue from where he left in the previous IPL where they amassed 333 and 433 runs respectively.

Senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar would open with either Dwayne Smith or James Franklin, both of whom can contribute to the team with their bowling as well.A Also Ponting, who has had a good outing in Australia's Big Bash and Shield Cricket tournaments since retiring from Test cricket, would be an asset at number three.

Dinesh Karthik would give solidity to the middle-order. Boasting of three prolific wicket-takers in the IPL so far -- Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga, Pragyan Ojha and Munaf Patel -- Mumbai Indians look a well-balanced side.A RCB, on the other hand, will take the field with the young and feisty Virat Kohli leading the team.

Known for being diffident in the initial stages of theIPL, RCB have, in their arsenal, swashbuckling characters like Chris Gayle, Tillakaratne Dilshan and A B de Villiers, who can turn the game on its head in a jiffy.

Squads: Mumbai Indians: Ricky Ponting (c), Abu Nechim Ahmed, Akshar Patel, Aditya Tare, Aiden Blizzard, Ambati Rayudu, Amitoze Singh, Dhawal Kulkarni, Dinesh Karthik, Dwayne Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Harbhajan Singh, Jacob Oram, Jalaj Saxena, James Franklin, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Mitchell Johnson, Munaf Patel, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Phil Hughes, Pawan Suyal, Pragyan Ojha, Rishi Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar, Suryakumar Yadav, Sushant Marathe, Yuzvendra Singh Chahal.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (c), AB De Villiers, Abhimanyu Mithun, Abhinav Mukund, Andrew McDonald, Arun Karthik, Cheteshwar Pujara, Chris Gayle, Christopher Barnwell, Daniel Christian, Daniel Vettori, Harshal Patel, Jaidev Unadkat, K P Appanna, Karun Nair, Mayank Agarwal, Moises Henriques, Murali Kartik, Muttiah Muralitharan, Pankaj Singh, Prasanth Parameswaran, R Vinay Kumar, Ravi Rampaul, Rudra Pratap Singh, S Aravind, Sandeep Warrier, Saurabh Tiwary, Sheldon Jackson, Sunny Sohal, Syed Mohammad, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Vijay Zol, Zaheer Khan.