RCB come home, but power-packed Kings might hold the advantage

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (KKR) vs Punjab Kings (PBKS)
Bengaluru, 1930 IST (1400 GMT)

After a defeat at Chepauk against Chennai Super Kings, RCB are set to begin a three-match stretch at home. Over the years, their attempts to make the M Chinnaswamy Stadium a fortress have not borne fruit, and it is not going to be any easier on Monday when they face Punjab Kings.

The Chinnaswamy is known for its flat pitches and high-scoring games, and Kings’ batting line-up – packed with power-hitters – seems to be tailor-made for it. They will also carry the confidence of having won their opening match against Delhi Capitals, where most of their batters looked in good nick.

Against CSK, RCB’s batting had come undone against Mustafizur Rahman’s offcutters. Kings, too, have a left-arm seamer in Arshdeep Singh who has an offcutter and a recently developed legcutter. While Kings will be hoping he plays a similar role for them, the ball is unlikely to grip at the Chinnaswamy, especially during a night game.

The silver lining for RCB in their defeat to CSK was Anuj Rawat‘s performance. After they were reduced to 78 for 5, Rawat smashed 48 off 25 to revive the innings. If he can make regular contributions, it will help RCB solve their death-overs troubles; they were the second-slowest batting side in that phase last season.

RCB could consider bringing in Reece Topley for Alzarri Joseph, while Kings are expected to continue with the winning combination.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

If RCB bat first, Dinesh Karthik starts, with Yash Dayal coming in as Impact Player in the second innings. If they bowl first, Yash Dayal features in the playing XI, with Karthik replacing him during the chase.

Probable XII: 1 Virat Kohli, 2 Faf du Plessis (capt), 3 Rajat Patidar, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Cameron Green, 6 Anuj Rawat (wk), 7 Dinesh Karthik, 8 Reece Topley/Alzarri Joseph, 9 Karn Sharma, 10 Mayank Dagar, 11 Mohammed Siraj, 12 Yash Dayal

If they bat first, Prabhsimran Singh slots in the XI. Arshdeep Singh will replace him in the second innings. Vice versa, if they bowl first.

Probable XII: 1 Shikhar Dhawan (capt), 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 Prabhsimran Singh, 4 Sam Curran, 5 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Shashank Singh, 8 Harpreet Brar, 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Rahul Chahar, 12 Arshdeep Singh

Since the start of 2018, teams have scored at 9.42 per over at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, the highest scoring rate at any venue that has hosted at least five IPL games. Don’t expect anything different on Monday.

The temperature will be around 28C, with no dew expected.

“The communication to me has been very clear. I am supposed to be batting down the order but if we lose early wickets, I have to bat in the middle order. Keeping wicket last season in the last couple of games gave me a lot of confidence, and I am looking forward to continuing as a wicketkeeper-batsman this season as well.”
RCB’s Anuj Rawat

This article was originally published by Espncricinfo.com. Read the original article here.

RCB come home, but power-packed Kings might hold the advantage

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