The Virat Kohli-led side would look to keep that momentum going when they take on Gautam Gambhir’s Kolkata Knight Riders.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore remain one of the title contenders at this year’s IPL and with no defeats so far, the Virat Kohli-led side would look to keep that momentum going when they take on Gautam Gambhir’s Kolkata Knight Riders. The RCB are eyeing a hat-trick of wins to go to the top of points table in tonight’s clash. The star-studded Bangalore line-up boasts some of the big hitting T20 batsmen in international cricket today and despite the absence of the destructive Chris Gayle, who has been nursing a sore back, news from the RCB camp is that the southpaw could be fit for the game.
During Gayle’s absence, the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Parthiv Patel and South African import A B de Villiers have stole the limelight with their powerful hitting and wonder strokes all-round. As the other RCB batsmen are making merry, slight concern has been of skipper Virat Kohli, who is yet to hit the purple patch in this year’s IPL.
As with RCB as their opposition today, Kolkata have to be on their toes if they are to win the tie. The KKR side have a good batting arsenal up their sleeves and even the skipper Gautam Gambhir has failed to fire on all cylinders; the likes of Manish Pandey and Robin Uthappa have raised their game.
South African icon, Jacques Kallis too remains a key player for the KKR and if is in form tonight, the Bangalore bowlers are in for a spanking. Besides, all-rounder Yusuf Pathan too has to fire or might be found wanting on the sidelines.
The RCB bowling department consists the likes of Mitchell Starc, Albie Morkel and Varun Aaron who stifled the current champions Mumbai Indians in their previous match and they would pose quite a challenge for KKR to deal with in today`s game. KKR`s bowlers are still struggling for form and will find it tough to contain and dismiss RCB`s destructive-looking line-up and it would take a ‘superhuman’ effort from them to escape an onslaught.
Teams (from):
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (c), Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Yuvraj Singh, Parthiv Patel, Albie Morkel, Mitchell Starc, Ashok Dinda, Ravi Rampaul, Muttiah Muralitharan, Nic Maddinson, Varun Aaron, Vijay, Sachin Rana, Yogesh Takawale, Abu Nechim Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shadab Jakati, Sandeep Warrier, Harshal Patel, Tanmay Mishra.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (c), Sunil Narine, Jacques Kallis, Robin Uthappa, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Morne Morkel, Piyush Chawla, Manish Pandey, Veer Pratap Singh, Chris Lynn, Andre Russell, SS Mandal, Pat Cummins, Debabrata Das, Suryakumar Yadav, Manvinder Bisla, Ryan ten Doeschate, Kuldeep Yadav.
