Royal Challengers Bangalore will take on Kolkata Knight Riders in their own backyard. It’s going to be an epic encounter as both the teams are well balanced in batting as well as bowling departments. RCB won their last match against Sunrisers Hyderabad quite convincingly and would be looking to take down KKR in their first face-off of this season. Virat Kohli has been doing exceedingly well and it would be a great test for him and Chris Gayle when they take on the likes of Brett Lee and Sunil Narine.
Here we bring to you the players who can change the course of the game with their brilliant cricketing skills.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
Virat Kohli: Kohli played a sensational innings in the last game and took his team to the victory by scoring that cavalier 93 runs off just 47 balls. He looks to be in excellent touch in this season and his captaincy, which has been brilliant, will surely make a roadmap for the success of RCB. He is the trump card of today’s match.
Chris Gayle: Gayle hasn’t fired in the last two matches and would be looking to take on Sunil Narine. The only problem with him is his foot work which doesn’t exist in the initial overs of his innings. He needs to survve for the first 2-3 overs to find his feet and can be very dangerous against the slow-ball bowlers of KKR.
Moises Henriques: Henriques has proved his worth by bowling and batting well in the last two games. He is a genuine all-rounder which gives RCB immense stability at the lower-middle order. His presence ensures that they can add up good 50-60 runs if a genuine batsman is batting with him in last five overs.
Muttiah Muralitharan: Murali was simply magical in the last match and the dismissal of Parthiv with his most lethal weapon, i.e., “Doosra” was just too good. He ended up with the bowling figures of 1/23 in his quota of four overs.
RP Singh: RP bowled brilliantly and was looking in good rhythm from the first over that he bowled. His ability to strike consistently makes him the most dangerous bowler in the RCB bowling attack. He picked up three wickets at very crucial stages of the match and gave away 27 runs.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Gautam Gambhir: Gambhir would be looking to forget the memories of their last game where they were beaten by Rajasthan Royals. The major cause of worry for him is his own form and the way he is throwing away his wickets after getting those good starts. He should try to stay at the crease for as long as possible.
Eoin Morgan: Morgan played a good innings of 51 runs off just 38 balls. He smashed three fours and three sixes to keep his team in hunt of winning that thriller. He needs to be promoted up the order especially in the crunch matches because of his experience of T20 cricket that he had played for county and England.
Sunil Narine: He can be the real threat but you need to use your best strike bowler wisely. Narine was smashed for the first time in the tournament and the reason was the over-confidence of his captain Gautam Gambhir who should have allowed him to bowl at stretch. Using him in sporadically not only disturbed his rhythm but also quizzed the bowling changes that Gambhir was making.
Brett Lee: Brett Lee has been looking in great shape this season as he is getting those early breakthroughs and to make the life of batsmen tougher, he is not conceding much runs. His quota of four overs can make a huge difference to change the complexion of the match.
Rajat Bhatia: Bhatia has been one of the most under-rated bowlers in Indian Premier League but that has not taken away his skill of bowling those slower ones. His ability to give those big blows at crucial time makes him a very special bowler. His accurate line and length always gives him a great chance of picking up a wicket.
By Amit Chopra
Indian Sports News Network
