Much awaited Indian Premier League 2021 goes underway tonight. The inaugural match of the 2021 edition of the IPL will be played between the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

Both of the cricket’s modern-day greats Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be looking to start their respective seasons on a winning note. Mumbai Indians have lost their first match of the season now 5 times in a row. Royal Challengers Bangalore also went onto losing their last 3 first matches of the tournament.

These two teams have met 27 times before with Mumbai leading comfortably with 17 wins as compared to Bangalore’s 10. But tonight the defending champions will be without one of their major overseas players.

Quinton De Cock To Miss The First Match Against Royal Challengers Bangalore

MI on Friday confirmed that their South African wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock won’t be available for the match against RCB. His absence is because he landed in India earlier this week, even if it was a bubble-to-bubble transfer. De Kock was earlier a part of the South African team’s bubble.

The MI also confirmed that de Kock is currently undergoing a seven-day mandatory quarantine. “Captain Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock have been Mumbai Indians’ preferred opening pair for at least two years now. However, the latter joins the MI camp after completing national duties and will undergo a mandatory 7-day quarantine. Therefore, this game will see a new pair open the game for the Men in Blue and Gold,” the MI wrote in a preview for the match on their official website.

The franchise further hinted that Chris Lynn could replace the South African in the XI. “Chris Lynn, who was in an unforgiving mood in the Big Bash League, might be a great backup option,” the preview further read.

Quinton De Kock had a very fruitful IPL season in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last year and played a crucial role in Mumbai winning the title. The left-hander scored 503 runs in the 13th edition of the IPL and scored his runs at an average of 35.92 and a strike rate of 140.50.