Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab will go into Thursday's clash having experienced contrasting emotions in their opening matches.
While Virat Kohli's men coasted past Sunrisers Hyderabad with a largely serene victory, KL Rahul's side were involved in a roller-coaster game against Delhi Capitals that was not short of controversy and high on drama.
These are early days and such is the nature of T20 cricket that things could change in the blink of an eye but the momentum will be with RCB when they take on Kings XI.
Kings XI would be looking to reboot against RCB after a forgettable outing against Delhi Capitals. From conceding 30 runs in the final over to having a run - a potentially match winning run - stripped due to a wrong umpiring call and Mayank Agarwal's error of judgment after taking the team agonisingly close to the finish line, things didn't go their way.
Kings XI had lodged an appeal with the match referee over the incident where the square-leg umpire mistakenly disallowed a run taken by Chris Jordan in the 19th over that essentially took the game to the super over.
And to top it all off, losing the match from there on would have been deflating and demoralising. But there are positives to be taken from the game. Mohammed Shami demonstrated what he can do with a ball in his hand while Mayank showed how handy he is with the bat and they look like a well-balanced unit on their day.
While Rahul has performed impressively with the bat and as a wicketkeeper in recent times, his new role as the captain leading the ship would go a long way in deciding where Kings XI finish this season. His captaincy skills will be under the spotlight again against a confident RCB and it remains to be seen how he lifts his team after that painful defeat.
Time for RCB bowlers to step up
Meanwhile, when it comes to RCB, although Kohli couldn't get going with the bat against Sunrisers, he has plenty of reasons to be thrilled when it comes to his unit.
Debutant Devdutt Padikkal has proved to be a revelation and looks to be enjoying the big stage. He even overshadowed veteran Aaron Finch when the two opened the innings, and finally, RCB might not have to rely solely on Kohli and AB de Villiers all the time.
The fact that de Villiers was handy with the bat would also delight Kohli but bowling could prove to be the main concern for them yet again.
It took a magical spell from Yuzvendra Chahal to take the game away from David Warner's side as he took the crucial wickets of Jonny Bairstow and Manish Pandey when they looked in control.
Other than Chahal, Navdeep Saini looked impressive with his pace, economy rate and, most importantly, wicket-taking ability. But the rest of the bowlers like the experienced Dale Steyn and Umesh Yadav will have to step up.
With the kind of players that will be in action on Thursday, expect the game to go down to the wire and the team that keeps their cool in the heat of the desert will come out victorious.
Probable playing XI:
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB): Aaron Finch, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Josh Philippe (wk), Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Navdeep Saini, Umesh Yadav, Dale Steyn, Yuzvendra Chahal
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP): Lokesh Rahul (capt & wk), Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Sarfaraz Khan, Glenn Maxwell, Nicholas Pooran, Krishnappa Gowtham, Chris Jordan, Sheldon Cottrell, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami