RCB’s journey has been the other way round. They were battered by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), against whom they crumbled for 92. Then, despite a century stand, they couldn’t put it across Chennai Super Kings (CSK). It was against Mumbai Indians (MI) that they found their rhythm and momentum, registering a crushing win.
RCB are sitting pretty in the points table, with 12 points from 10 games, thanks in main to their impressive run in the first half. But they would like to maintain consistency from hereon. As for RR, they are languishing at the bottom, with six defeats from 10 games. The Royals need to pick themselves up.
RCB will not be looking to make too many changes to their playing XI. However, they would expect better from those already in the team. Skipper Kohli has been among the runs but needs to accelerate. AB de Villiers, for a change, hasn’t scored many so he will be hungry.
RCB’s predicted XI: Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, KS Bharat (wk), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Dan Christian, Shahbaz Ahmed, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammad Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
For RR, it’s a simple yet complicated case of players backing their skipper. It has been a one-man show so far, with the middle-order in particular failing to deliver. There will be high hopes from Liam Livingstone in particular. Shivam Dube might come in for Riyan Parag
RR’s predicted XI: Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Liam Livingstone, Mahipal Lomror, Shivam Dube, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Chetan Sakariya, Kartik Tyagi, Mustafizur Rahman
Top fantasy picks for RCB vs RR clash: Glenn Maxwell, Kyle Jamieson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sanju Samson, Mustafizur Rahman, Liam Livingstone
--Renin Wilben Albert