Royal Challengers Bangalore
Royal Challengers Bangalore have always flattered to deceive. The team, boasting of some of the finest powerhitters of the game and one of India’s finest batting talents, have, however, managed to show glimpses of their true potential this season.
An example is the masterclass 155 run partnership between A.B. de Villiers and Virat Kohli last match against M.S. Dhoni’s Pune team. Kohli and de Villiers, who’ve hit 20 sixes and 49 fours this IPL, have contributed 516 runs in the four matches so far — and that accounts for over 60% of RCB’s runs this season.
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The others have not had the opportunity to make any sizeable contributions. With Shane Watson, Sarfaraz Khan waiting in the wings, RCB have enough batting might to tide the crisis should the two star batsmen fail. They will not have the services of Chris Gayle who has gone back to the West Indies to be with his newborn son.
Tabraiz Shamsi, who replaced injured Samuel Badree last Friday, is likely to be inducted into the team today as well. RCB’s thin bowling lineup, that served them well defending 185 against Pune, will be put to test against Gujarat openers Aaron Finch and Brendon McCullum.
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Virat Kohli, K.L. Rahul, A.B. de Villiers, Shane Watson, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Stuart Binny, Harshal Patel, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kane Richardson, Iqbal Abdulla
Gujarat Lions
The Gujarat Lions had their first defeat, and a big one at that, against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last match. They would like to believe that it was an oneoff loss and bring their campaign back on track today. Captain Suresh Raina was the mainstay of Gujarat’s batting last time, scoring a 51ball 75.
The openers — Finch, Gujarat’s topscorer with 191 runs, and McCullum— will look to exploit RCB’s weaker suit, its bowling. And with the firepower of allrounders Dwayne Bravo, James Faulkner and Ravindra Jadeja, Gujarat have ample to resources to exploit the other team’s weakness.
While their bowling unit, as a whole, has performed consistently — thanks to Bravo, Faulkner and Tambe. Praveen Kumar looked out of his depth during their last encounter, leaking 31 runs in two overs. Will Raina bring in another spinner, in the form of Shadab Jakati, in place of Kumar?
Probable XI:
Aaron Finch, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Dwayne Bravo,Ravindra Jadeja, Akshdeep Nath, James Faulkner,Shadab Jakati, Dhawal Kulkarni, Pravin Tambe