Five face-offs that will make GT vs RCB a silver-screen classic

The Royal Challengers Bangalore will be taking on the debutants Gujarat Titans for the first time in an electric blockbuster that would set the tone perfectly for a heavily jammed weekend. There will be some contrasting form surrounding the two sides as the Challengers seem to have suddenly lost their steam with two consecutive losses wherein for the Titans, they have been unstoppable in the ongoing tournament.

With all said and done, there will be a handful of swashbuckling personal rivalries that will be up for grabs at the Brabourne Stadium, thanks to the hefty roster in Indian cricket. As we talk about a rivalry that boils down to a raw street fight with an unpleasant exchange of haymakers, let us take you through five wars that will spice up the face-off between the Challengers and the Titans.

Faf du Plessis vs Rashid Khan

The captain and the vice-captain of the opposite sides for the day will be coming to this contest with quite a history. Du Plessis has faced Rashid for 34 balls and somehow the South African’s exploits feel intimidating for the Challengers. He has only managed 22 runs and has been dismissed twice. However, going by the latest trend, somehow, Rashid’s wicket-taking spell has dried up as batters are more inclined towards playing him out instead of attacking him. Last time Rashid played at Brabourne he scalped 3 wickets against the Punjab Kings. Faf, on the contrary, have been RCB’s highest scorer with 278 runs from 9 matches.

Glenn Maxwell vs Mohammed Shami

In another interesting collision of two interplanetary forces, Glenn Maxwell will be taking on his former teammate at the Punjab Kings, Mohammed Shami. Even though the duo hasn’t really faced each other off that frequently, yet both are aware of each other’s basic strengths. However, with time, every individual evolves and the new incarnation will always be grislier that one would have known them previously. Maxwell is a titanic striker of the ball while Shami has wreaked some insane havoc with the balls drifting left, right and center.

Josh Hazlewood vs David Miller

The Australian speedster has been quite a grab for the Challengers with some terrific fast bowling that has seen disturbing of the timbre too frequently. David Miller had a slow start to the campaign but has caught up with the bandwidth with a couple of mind-blowing knocks that would leave the oppositions stranded in a land of nightmares. Hazlewood has claimed 10 wickets from just 5 games and with every passing game he has seemed extremely menacing. Miller himself has racked up 237 runs from just 8 games at a stunning average of 59.25.

Harshal Patel vs Hardik Pandya

Harshal has been an instrumental force in the ranks of RCB exactly like the way captain Hardik Pandya has established himself in the heart of the Gujarat Titans. He has a whole variety of slow balls that would leave the batters baffled and with the kind of stringent line and length that he produces, it becomes too challenging for the one at the other end to break free from the shackles. Hardik has been in wholesome form with a sequence of bedazzling knocks leaving the oppositions in blue funk. He has reinvented himself as a middle-order batter and the quality that he has shown is nothing but sheer gold. The ongoing IPL has seen him score 305 runs from 7 games at an average of 61. Harshal has claimed 10 scalps so far at an economy rate of 7.53 and has produced a handful of rare gems in the middle-overs.

Dinesh Karthik versus Lockie Ferguson

In another bitter battle of two former comrades at the KKR, DK will be taking on a clinically brilliant Lockie Ferguson. Karthik has also been in fine shape until the last two games stalled his run-flow while Ferguson has been in tremendous shape in the latest edition of IPL. Given the variety that the Kiwi quick has up his sleeves it is usually difficult for the batter to pick him. Contrapuntal to Ferguson’s strength, Karthik has been simply terrific with his aquiline reflexes, tearing the bowlers apart. He has garnered 216 runs from just 9 games at an average of 72 and a strike rate of 198.17. Ferguson has claimed 9 wickets so far at an economy rate of 8.91.