KL Rahul Reflects on Overcoming Injuries, Doubts, & Mentoring Jaiswal
RCB would like to do a double over the high flying RR team
IPL 2022: RCB would like to put their recent memory aside, where they their run rate both took a beating in their disappointing outing vs SRH and aim to beat RR.
Previous meeting of RCB vs RR
The last time these 2 teams met was in the match 13 of Tata IPL 2022. RCB emerged as winners in this intense thriller, thanks to late strikes from Dinesh Karthik and Harshal Patel.
Rajasthan put on 173 on the board but, RCB chased it down with 5 balls to spare and 3 wickets in hand. Orange cap holder Jos Buttler scored 70* that time around in 47 balls.
The negative news for RCB in that meeting was that the top order had failed to contribute after a good start, again.
Head to Head
13 wins for RCB as compared to the 10 wins for RR in their 25 meetings. 2 off the 25 ended in a no result.
Pitch Report
The pitch at the MCA International Stadium, Pune has been a good surface to bat on. Once the ball gets old, it will assist the spinners as well. Captain winning the toss will elect to field first.
The average score at the MCA International Stadium, Pune is 170.
Injury Updates
Will update, once we get a news regarding an injury.
Probable Playing XI
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Anuj Rawat, Faf Du Plessis(C), Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Suyash Prabhudessai, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik(wk), Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep.
Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson(C and wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Karun Nair, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishnna, Obed McCoy.
Key Players
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Faf Du Plessis – Off all the top order stars that RCB has, their skipper Du Plessis is the one, most in form. He equaled his personal best score of 96, in the game against Lucknow Super Giants. Faf is the top scorer for RCB in this years Tata IPL, scoring 255 runs in 8 matches, at a decent strike rate of 130.10. Against a strong bowling attack of RR, RCB will hope for a big innings from their skip.
Dinesh Karthik – The Indian wicket-keeper batsman has been in tremendous form this Tata IPL season. His big hitting prowess has earned him a lot of plaudits from players all around. Karthik has more often than not played a crucial role, where RCB have won. Karthik has been scoring runs all over the park and as a result been very tough to contain. RR themselves were beaten by Karthik’s magnificent batting, as he scored 44* off just 23 deliveries to take RCB to the 2 points. If RCB were to post/ chase a high score, Karthik’s batting performance might just tilt the match in their favor.
Wanindu Hasaranga – The Sri Lankan leggie has picked up 11 wickets in 8 matches, 1 off them coming in their match vs RR. If RCB would want to restrict Jos Buttler and Co, Hasaranga along with Harshal Patel would most probably be the destructors in chief. Hasaranga can strike a long ball too, which will come in handy for RCB as the tournament progresses. Hasaranga has got the better of Sanju Samson 4 times and has given away just 15 runs to the RR skipper. This will be a very entertaining match up.
Rajasthan Royals
Jos Buttler – The Englishman has been in full flow with the bat, from the very first game in Tata IPL 2022. The Orange Cap holder is heads and shoulders above his fellow competitors in the race for the Orange Cap. Buttler has scored 3 centuries this season, 2 off them coming in the last 2 games. Jos Buttler has scored 491 runs in 7 outings, at a hefty strike rate of 161.51. Moreover, Buttler averages 81.83 this season.To add to these outrageous performances, Buttler also scored 70* in the game against RCB. We can expect some fireworks if RCB are unable to price the wicket of Buttler early on in the innings.
Shimron Hetmyer – Buttler has been well accompanied by the explosive West Indian Shimron Hetmyer. Hetmyer has scored 224 runs in 7 innings, at a very impressive strike rate of 179.20. It was Hetmyer and Buttler who had propelled RR to 173 in their loss to RCB, earlier this season. If RR were to post/ chase a big score, the big hitting prowess of Hetmyer(Heti) will be a wonderful asset to have in the armoury.
Yuzvendra Chahal – Chahal has grabbed the headlines alongside Jos Buttler in most of the matches he has played in. Bowling in tandem with fellow Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, Chahal has picked up 18 wickets in just 7 innings. These wickets also include an outstanding hattrick and a fifer against Kolkata Knight Riders. Yuzvendra Chahal is miles ahead in the race for purple cap, this Tata IPL season. He faces a struggling RCB batting line up. The last time vs RCB, Yuzi picked up 2/15 in his 4 overs. Expect a similar performance today.
When the two teams go up against each other tonight at the MCA Stadium, Pune, expect a mouth watering clash.
