BENGALURU: For the past many years, Royal Challengers Bangalore have been known primarily for their batting. More often than not, in the previous editions, their bowlers have let them down. On the latter front, things have improved considerably, and with the batting department, as expected, coming to the party, they have proved to be a solid unit in the 13th edition. They will be eager to carry their all-round form into their next game as they face Kolkata Knight Riders in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
RCB come into this encounter with three wins from the last four, including a win over Kolkata. Another win and Bangalore, who lie on third place with 12 points, will jump to second place and be in a comfortable spot with the race to playoffs hotting up. But, it is going to be a tricky affair against a rejuvenated Kolkata side, which defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last game.
However, KKR, who are fourth on the table, have a big concern with regards to Andre Russell, who suffered a hamstring problem against SRH. The all-rounder might not have delivered with the bat so far, but still adds a lot with his medium-pace bowling. If he becomes unavailable, it could bring Sunil Narine, who was hours before their last contest removed from the IPL suspect bowling action list, into the equation for this encounter.
They have the bowlers to scare the Bangalore batsmen. Lockie Ferguson impressed with his first outing on Sunday with a three-wicket haul in his four overs and another two to steer his team to victory in the Super Over. With Pat Cummins in the bowling department, they could prove to be a deadly duo if things go according to plan. Add spinners, Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy in the mix, they have it in them to trouble Kohli and his men.
RCB will be wary about the threat and will once again look for their top four to get going. Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Kohli and AB de Villiers have been amongst the runs, with the latter having played a few match-winning knocks already. If Kolkata can remove them for cheap runs, the middle and lower order of Bangalore will be exposed, which has not been tested much.
If one looks at the batting department of Kolkata, it has not been impressive. Barring Shubman Gill and Eoin Morgan, their batsmen have not delivered. The form of Dinesh Karthik, who gave up captaincy to focus on his batting, is another worry for Kolkata as the wicketkeeper-batsman has only managed 141 runs from nine innings. They need his skills with the bat to handle Bangalore’s confident attack.
That confidence has been brought about, especially after the inclusion of Chris Morris, who has taken nine wickets in four matches at an economy rate of 5.25. His performance has been commendable while Yuzvendra Chahal has been the standout performer in the spin department with 13 wickets. Throw in the pace of Navdeep Saini and Washington Sundar with his intelligent bowling in the powerplay, they have all their bases covered in the bowling department too.