Squads –
RCB –
Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal, Gurkeerat Singh, Moeen Ali, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Parthiv Patel, Pawan Negi, Shivam Dube, Umesh Yadav, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Aaron Finch, Chris Morris, Dale Steyn, Isuru Udana, Joshua Philippe, Pavan Deshpande, Shahbaz Ahamad, Adam Zampa.
KXIP –
KL Rahul (c & wk), Arshdeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Darshan Nalkande, Krishnappa Gowtham, Hardus Viljoen, Harpreet Brar, Jagadeesha Suchith, Karun Nair, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Murugan Ashwin, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Chris Jordan, Deepak Hooda, Glenn Maxwell, Ishan Porel, James Neesham, Prabhsimran Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Sheldon Cottrell, Tajinder Dhillon
Team News –
RCB –
– Royal Challenges Bangalore won by a massive 82 runs against KXIP. By winning the last game RCB are in the top 4 with 5 wins in their 7 games. They will go unchanged.
– Their Likely 4 foreign players will be Aaron Finch, ABD, Chris Morris and Isuru Udana.
– Aaron Finch and Young Devdutt Padikal will open the innings. Finch is a world class batter while Padikal showed his class in with 3 50+ scores this IPL. Finch is slightly out of form but is a quality player.
– Virat Kohli will bat 1 down. Virat is back in form after scoring 72, 42 and 90* in last few games. Virat is also highest scorer for RCB against KXIP.
– AB De Villiers will follow Virat at 2 down. He has a excellent Average of 57 with 650+ runs against KXIP. He scored 77* last game.
– Washington Sunder will bat at 3 down. Sunder is a proper Allrounder and has the ability to hit the balk big. Dube will follow him.
– Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sunder will lead the spin section. Sunder is bowling most of his overs in powerplay.
– Isuru Udana, Chris Morris, Mohammad Siraj and Navdeep Saini will be the pace attack with Shivam Dube to assist. Morris and Udana will bowl in death.
KXIP –
– Kings XI are at the bottom of the table with just 1 win from their 7 games. Except their opening pair in 1st 4 games and Pooran in middle no player has contributed to the team’s performance.
– Chris Gayle is all set to play his 1st game tonight. He will likely replace underperforming Glenn Maxwell.
– Chris Gayle, Nicolas Pooran, Sheldon Cottrell and Mujeeb will be their likely 4 foreign players to start.
– Rahul will open with Chris Gayle. Gayle will finally play and open the innings. He is a impact player and has the ability to score big. Rahul has been in excellent form scoring 300+ runs this season.
– Mayank Agrawal will bat 1 down. He opened in all the games and was excellent with that opening slot but if gayle plays he has to bat 1 down.
– Nicolas Pooran will bat at 2 down. He is a exciting talent and has the ability to clear the fence with ease. He scored quickfire 77 of just 37 balls against SRH.
– Mandeep will play the role of finisher along with Krishnappa Gowtham(if plays).
– Ravi Bishnoi and Mujeeb will lead the spin attack. Bishnoi has been excellent with his bowling as a youngster.
– Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh and Sheldon Cottrell/Chris Jordan will lead the pace attack. Jordan is a very good death bowler but
Probable XI –
RCB –
Aaron Finch, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers(wk), Gurkeerat Singh, Chris Morris, Shivam Dube, Washington Sunder, Yuzi Chahal, Navdeep Saini, Isuru Udana.
KXIP –
KL Rahul(c), Chris Gayle/Glenn Maxwell, Mayank Agrawal, Mandeep Singh, Nicolas Pooran, PrabhSimran Singh(wk), Mujeeb Rahman, Sheldon Cottrell/Chris Jordan, Arshdeep Singh, , Mohammad Shami, Ravi Bishnoi.
Pitch Report –
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
The Sharjah ground has very small boundaries and pitches also are batting favourable resulting in a high scoring encounter.
Average Score : 200( IPL 2020)
Head to Head –
Total games : 25
RCB Won : 12
KXIP Won : 13
Team Blueprint –
WK –
AB De Villiers ( 2 down + wk, best T20 striker in world cricket, 77*(33b) last game against KKR, 690 runs against KXIP )
L Rahul( Opener + wk, currently best T20 Batsman in world cricket, 387 runs in 7 games this IPL, Must C/VC)
N Pooran( 2/3 down, very hard hitting batsman, can be promoted any day, 77(37b) last 2nd game, Must )
Parthiv Patel( Opener, known for his fiery starts, SR of 170 in powerplay)
Josh Philippe( 3 down, very attacking Aussie Batsman, 487 runs in BBL 2019 with SR of 130, will not play)
BAT –
Virat Kohli ( 1 down, highest IPL runs , 72*,43,90*,33* in last 4 games, Must have)
Chris Gayle( Opener, no intro needed, played his last t20 in BPL 2019, 140R in 4 games against RCB, Must have)
Mayank Agrawal(Open/1 down, SR of 142 last IPL , excellent player of spin, 337 runs in 7 games this tournament ,Must have )
Aaron Finch ( Opener, very aggressive Batsman, 125 in 3 t20s against Aus recently, 47(37) last game, Must have especially in this game after too many failures)
Mandeep Singh( 2/3 down, very good Syed Mushtaq trophy with 3 50+ scores striking at 155)
Gurkeerat Singh( Middle order bat + part time off spin, 1200+ T20 runs , experienced)
D Padikal( Opener, loads of domestic records on his name, 211 runs in 6 games this IPL, 32 runs last game, Must have)
Sarfaraz ( middle order, can be used as a floater for hitting, very good domestic form)
ALL –
Chris Morris( Right Arm fast + late hitting, death overs expert, 22 Wicket in BBL 2019, 5 Wickets in last 2 games, Must have)
Glenn Maxwell ( 2 down+ 2-3 overs of off spin, century against England recently, have completely failed this IPL , can be dropped this game)
Jimmy Neesham ( Middle order + Medium pacer, hard hitter of ball, failed with both bat and bowl this IPL)
K Gowtham ( Off spin + late hitting, SR of 166 in t20s, decent bowler , poor last IPL with just 1 Wicket, 22R + 1w last game played )
Moeen Ali ( Middle order+ off spin, very attacking Batsman, can be promoted, 6w + 220R for last season, 1w last game Played, Must have if plays )
Shivam Dube( Lower order + part time pace, can hit the ball really big, bowls sometimes, 4w this season, can be promoted)
Washington Sunder ( Off spin, very economical, bowls most overs in powerplay, bowling very economical, 2 Wickets last game)
S Ahmed( Bowling All, slow left arm, excellent domestic season, 36R + 3W in practice game, can be a excellent pick even in SL )
BOWL –
Yuzi Chahal( Leggie, highest wicket taker for RCB, 19 wickets against KXIP, 11 Wickets in 7 games, Must have)
Mujeeb ( Off spin, mystery bowler, one of the best t20 bowler, 16W in 11 CPL games, played last game but was wicketless)
S Cottrell ( Left arm fast, known for his pace and bounce, 6 Wickets in 6 games this IPL, not a good death bowler )
M Shami ( Right Arm fast, hit the deck bowler, Wicket taker, 19 Wickets last IPL, 10 Wickets in 7 games, Must have)
Chris Jordan ( Right Arm Medium Fast, best death bowler currently in world cricket, very expensive last game)
Ishan Porel ( Medium pacer, 13 t20 Wickets in 13 games, u19 player, got good pace, can get a game)
Ravi Bishnoi( Leggie, bowls fast spin, excellent domestic record, 3 Wickets last 2nd game )
Umesh Yadav( Right Arm fast, bowls his 2-3 overs in powerplay, 20 Wickets in 2018 for RCB, very expensive last game + wicketless, will not play)
Dale Steyn( Right arm fast, very experienced, 256 T20 Wickets, could be benched again)
Navdeep Saini ( Right Arm fast, emerging talent, bowls close to 150ks, Just 17 runs + 1w last game against KKR )
Isuru Udana( Left arm Medium + late hitting, dark horse for RCB, experienced, 148 t20 Wickets, 1w last game)
C/VC Options –
RCB –
AB De Villiers
Virat Kohli
Aaron Finch
Devdutt Padikkal
KXIP –
KL Rahul
Mayank Agrawal
Chris Gayle