 "IPL 2023, RCB vs GT: Eyeing playoffs berth, Kohli and Faf hold key for Bangalore against Gujarat")
synopsis
IPL 2023: Royal Challengers Bangalore will host Gujarat Titans on Sunday in the last league contest. While the hosts remain in the playoff contention, they will have no choice but to triumph against the visitors, who have already sealed their berth.
Playing this Indian Premier League's (IPL) last league stage match, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) would know what exactly is required of them to qualify for the playoffs, when they face table-topper defending champion Gujarat Titans (GT) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday. With batting maestro Virat Kohli back at his absolute best and skipper Faf du Plessis leading from the front with 600-plus runs this season, RCB will hope its dazzling opening duo fires in this must-win game.
Currently placed at fourth position, RCB also has a better net run rate (NRR) of 0.180 than former five-time record champion Mumbai Indians (-0.128), which takes on SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Sunday's first game, and former champion Rajasthan Royals (RR). Besides playing in front of its beloved home crowd that will back it vociferously come Sunday, the other advantage for du Plessis' side is that it features in the last game of the league round on Sunday evening. By this time, RCB would know the outcome of the duel between MI and SRH.
CATCH ALL IPL 2023 UPDATES HERE
However, it will mean nothing if it loses to defending champion GT, a formidable outfit without an iota of doubt and led admirably by star all-rounder Hardik Pandya throughout the season, the reward of which is a top-two finish in the league stage with a real chance of retaining the title it won in its inaugural season in IPL 2022.
While GT leads the pecking order with 18 points after winning nine matches and losing four, RCB is equal with MI and RR on points ahead of its game at the Chinnaswamy. Entering this game, both teams are coming off big wins, GT over SRH by 34 runs and RCB by eight wickets over the 2016 champion by eight wickets after a sparkling hundred by Kohli, his sixth overall across IPL.
RCB would undoubtedly take confidence from the manner in which it chased down a target of 186 in its previous outing against SRH, with both Kohli and du Plessis firing. However, the match against GT will be a different ball game altogether, considering the kind of resources RCB's opponents possess and the confidence it carries into its games.
It will be interesting to see how the trio of Kohli, du Plessis, and Glenn Maxwell go about their tasks against GT. South African du Plessis, who holds the Orange Cap for scoring the most runs, has so far amassed 631 runs in 13 games. He also leads the chart for hitting the most sixes (34). Meanwhile, Kohli is sixth on the list of top scorers with 438 runs.
However, RCB's overreliance on Kohli, du Plessis and Maxwell has been a major cause of concern, and if the GT bowlers can make early inroads, the visitors will hold the aces. Mohammed Siraj has been the RCB standout bowler this season, and in the company of Wayne Parnell, he would again have to shoulder the responsibility of leading its bowling attack.
With the ball, it will be up against in-form Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia and GT skipper Pandya. Like Kohli, Gill, seen as a successor to the run machine from Delhi, is also coming off a century and will look to set the tone against RCB. Seasoned campaigners such as Mohammed Shami, Rashid Khan and Mohit Sharma make for a very competitive bowling attack for GT, but it will have its task cut out against a team that comprises one of the modern-day greats of the game. Considering the weather, it might rain, which will not gladden RCB and its fans.
Squads:
RCB: Faf du Plessis (c), Akash Deep, Finn Allen, Anuj Rawat, Avinash Singh, Manoj Bhandage, Michael Bracewell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Siddarth Kaul, Virat Kohli, Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj, Wayne Parnell, Harshal Patel, Suyash Prabhudessai, Rajan Kumar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Karn Sharma, Himanshu Sharma, Sonu Yadav, Vijaykumar Vyshak and Kedar Jadhav.
GT: Hardik Pandya (c), Shubman Gill, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Sai Sudharsan, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Matthew Wade (wk), Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Pradeep Sangwan, Darshan Nalkande, Jayant Yadav, R Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad, Dasun Shanaka, Odean Smith, KS Bharat, Shivam Mavi, Urvil Patel, Joshua Little and Mohit Sharma.
Match details
Date and day: May 21, 2023 (Sunday)
Venue: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
Time: 7.30 PM (IST)
Where to watch (TV): Star Sports 1 and other Star Sports regional language channels - Also available in HD
Where to watch (Online): JioCinema
subscribe to Asianet News Whatsapp channel by clicking here.
subscribe to Asianet News on YouTube by clicking here.