It is going to be a mid-table fight between two of the most exciting teams in the tournament, the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders as they would take the field in Sharjah, the place of a run-fest in this entire season. While KKR is coming on the back of two thrilling and dramatic victories, RCB has been able to forget the routing from Delhi Capitals after a complete and comprehensive victory over a tired Chennai Super Kings.
With captain Dinesh Karthik coming into the form, the Knight Riders had everybody fitting into the right place to complete the jigsaw puzzle of a perfect team until Andre Russell got injured. Now the Knight Riders would have to find a player who could compensate for Russell and as Karthik said, it is not going to be an easy task at all.
The Challengers on the other hand seem to have found the perfect balance with the inclusion of the South African all-rounder Chris Morris into the eleven. Along with it, the captain Virat Kohli coming into the form has also boosted the team’s confidence going into one of the most important and defining matches of the season so far.
The last two games that the Karthik led team won were mainly a result of their opponents failing to cease their moments. Not discrediting the genius of the KKR captain, but one must also look at the way Kings XI Punjab and CSK failed to build upon the starts they have had.
Spinners like Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine have been brilliant although the latter has now been reported for a suspect bowling action but would continue to bowl. It is the batting department that the KKR needs to work on. They need all their batters to fire together instead of doing it exclusively.
For the Royal Challengers to finally achieve their dream of winning their first League trophy, they need to carry on the momentum that they have built. AB de Villiers and Aaron Finch need to join the party for the Virat led team to grow more and be able to become the entity that it wants to be in the league.
They would also want their bowlers to carry on the good work, especially the way the pace trio of Isuru Udana, Navdeep Saini, and Chris Morris have performed. The spin bowlers have been performed well as well. Especially the way Washington Sunder has stopped the flow of runs.
Match Number- 28
Date: 12th October 2020, at 7:30 PM IST
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
The pitch in Sharjah has over the course of the IPL has remained batting-friendly one. However in the last few games, especially in the day games its nature has changed a bit as it has offered assistance to the spinners, with the bowl gripping a bit. In such a scenario, the idea of chasing might face resistance by team management.
Sharjah has been hot and humid and the chances of the remaining the same are more. Also, the pitch gripping would mean that chasing is not favourable as results have shown. In such a scenario, the team winning the toss would like to bat first.
With Andre Russell getting injured, the Knight Riders would be scratching their head to find a replacement for him. But with Prasidh Krishna in form and Shivam Mavi likely to make a return in the next game, the decision would be a real tough on for Karthik on whether he would sacrifice Nitish Rana to play Tom Banton or not. In case He decides to pursue with the same eleven with the minute change, he may just replace Russell with Lockie Ferguson to strengthen the bowling even more.
Rahul Tripathi, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana/ Tom Banton, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy Lockie Ferguson/ Shivam Mavi
RCB look super settled with all positions delivering except for Aaron Finch. But to expect that Kohli would change a settled XI just for that one position would be too much. So the same team is likely to play the game.
Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (wk), Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Washington Sundar, Isuru Udana, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal
Rahul Tripathi, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Isuru Udana, Lockie Ferguson, Yuzvendra Chahal
Captain: Virat Kohli
Vice-captain: Shubman Gill
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