RCB arrive in the City of Joy as a stern challenge from KKR awaits

When RCB and KKR clashed earlier this season at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, it was the visitors who had the last laugh. RCB’s bowlers couldn’t really conjure the desired momentum and whatever fight that was posted by Virat Kohli, Cameron Green and Dinesh Karthik with the bat fizzled away in thin air.

This time, however, things look entirely different. RCB will be desperate to get themselves back to winning ways after going through a shaky phase of five losses in a row. KKR, on the contrary, have been in scintillating touch with four wins from six outings. However, they will also be hopeful of returning to winning form after being pipped in the dying embers by Rajasthan Royals in their last home game.

For RCB, their bowling continues to be a major concern and whether they go into the game with the duo of Topley and Ferguson in the XI will certainly be one of the talking points while they will be hopeful of another strong batting showdown in Kolkata as the surface and the length of the boundaries have been very much in favour of the batters.

Venue Watch

The pitch at Eden Gardens has been a featherbed for the batters and it goes without saying that if there is no late change to the surface, plenty of runs are to be scored. Both the teams have a handful of big names when it comes to batting and this may very well be a gala of runs doing the rounds in Kolkata.

Personal battles to watch out for:

Virat Kohli vs Mitchell Starc:

The former RCB captain continues to dominate the scoring-charts with 361 runs at an average of 72.20. He was also in relentless touch in the last game against Sunrisers Hyderabad where his fall was ensued by a collapse that needed something herculean from Dinesh Karthik to bail RCB out. However, Virat has been the life and blood of the RCB batting unit so far in this season. For Mitchell Starc, this has been a tournament marked by a sequence of contrasting displays. However, if Starc gets to hit his stride, this contest between the willow and the leather of the duo will be one to savour.

Will Jacks vs Sunil Narine

Will Jacks may not have gotten the start that you would expect him to but then in the last game, he was unfortunate as he was run-out at the non-striker’s end. However, his all-round ability makes him a perfect match against Sunil Narine, who has been the ace for KKR. With 276 runs scored which is the highest so far in the season by a KKR batter at a strike rate of 187.75 and seven wickets claimed at an economy rate of 6.87, Narine will be a key factor in the hosts’ lineup, but he must be aware that Jacks can light up Eden Gardens with his own songs of rampage.

Dinesh Karthik vs Varun Chakravarthy

The Finisher Supreme has been in some dream form this season and the relentless striking from DK has been the talk of the town for a while now. His mind-boggling average of 75.33 and his stunning strike rate of 205.45 makes him a priceless addition to RCB. Varun Chakravarthy, on the contrary, has been a man with seven wickets in the ongoing edition of the tournament even though he has proven to be expensive. With two former Tamil Nadu players going up against each other, this is going to be another rivalry to cherish.

Match detail:

Match: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Date: 21st April, 2024

Time: 3:30 PM

Head-to-head:

Matches played: 33

RCB: 14

KKR: 19

Squads:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru:

Faf du Plessis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Cameron Green, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh, Saurav Chauhan.

Kolkata Knight Riders:

Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Phil Salt, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Suyash Sharma, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, KS Bharat, Chetan Sakariya, Mitchell Starc, Ramandeep Singh, Angrish Raghuvanshi, Sherfane Rutherford, Manish Pandey, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Dushmantha Chameera, Sakib Hussain