Royal Challengers Bangalore are ready to take on Kings XI Punjab at PCA Stadium, Mohali. Both the teams would be looking to climb up the chart by few spots by winning this contest. With the trio of Mandeep Singh, David Miller and Shaun Marsh in good form, it would be interesting to see how Vinay Kumar and RP Singh approach against them. But Kings XI Punjab are in for bigger problems as they have to tackle some really explosive batsmen in Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers, who have been quite consistent with the bat.
Here we bring to you the players to watch out for in the match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Kings XI Punjab (KXI-P).
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
Chris Gayle: Gayle has not been in good touch in the last few matches but if he gets going on for even five-six overs, he can do some serious damage to the pace-attack of Punjab. He would be looking to get back to his brilliant form because there are just few matches left after this for RCB.
Virat Kohli: Kohli has thrown away his wicket after taking a good start and he is looking bit unsettled at the crease. After a rest for three days, he will be looking for a good knock and give his side another away win in this crunch match.
AB De Villiers: De Villiers had played outstanding innings till now but a nice well poised innings from him is yet to be seen. He has done well if team has got a good start but he loses his wicket when it comes to bat under pressure.
Vinay Kumar: Vinay was brilliant with the ball as he picked up three wickets for just 31 runs. He needs to be more consistent with his yorkers otherwise players like Shaun Marsh and David Miller can smash him all over the park.
RP Singh: RP has started off well in every match but somehow he had missed the trick in death overs. He needs to find those slow bouncers and slow yorkers which can make him look a much better bowler in this match.
Kings XI Punjab (KXI-P)
Mandeep Singh: Mandeep Singh has played some heroic innings and would be looking to replicate his performance once again. He has got good start and he is also timing the ball really well but somehow he has not been able to carry on. He needs to be bit patient when it comes to going for plenty in the overs of power-play.
David Miller: Miller has all the ingredients that make him an ideal batsman at number four in the Kings XI squad. He has a batting average of 83.66 in last six innings that he has played so far. He has scored 251 runs till now and would be looking to move an inch closer to the orange cup.
Shaun Marsh: Marsh played a brilliant innings of 73 runs against Chennai Super Kings and would be looking to continue his stint with the bat against the fragile bowling line-up of Bangalore in this match. He had a slow start in the last match which he needs to take care off in this match.
Praveen Kumar: Praveen has been brilliant with the ball this season and would be looking to give some early breakthrough with his out-swingers. He has all that it takes to be the strike bowler and it is going to be an excellent contest between him and Chris Gayle in this must-win match for both the team.
Parwinder Awana: Parwinder bowled in recent matches. If he starts swinging the ball then he can give some tough time to Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers. He ended up with a figure of 2/29 against CSK and would be looking to continue his wicket-taking streak in this match.
By Amit Chopra
Indian Sports News Network
