Two teams with a similar history but a completely different journey so far in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League are set to contest in the 31st match of the cash-rich tournament. One does not have to look beyond their standing on the points table of the tournament to understand the difference in the kind of cricket they have played so far in the IPL 2020. Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore and KL Rahul’s Kings XI Punjab both started their IPL journey on a similar note with a win but while the Kings XI lost their way in the middle, Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers have been able to challenge oppositions in the past few weeks of the tournament.
On the similarity of the situations these teams have faced in the tournament, Virat Kohli’s RCB snatched victory from Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians in a match that went to the wire in the super over against the bowling of Jasprit Bumrah, while KL Rahul’s Kings XI squandered a match they should have won easily twice - once in the 20th over of the chase and then in the super over, getting two wickets down within three balls off Kagiso Rabada.
Both these teams share a history of not producing their best performances and doing injustice to the talents in their squad but Kohli’s team this year has shown the hunger for success and has hunted in packs for the same. The batting line up looks solid on all fronts while the bowling attack has stabilised after initial hiccups.
Virat Kohli, the captain too, has shown signs of maturity as a captain of the T20 side and backed the bowlers to win games for the side in tough situations. In the past seasons of the IPL, he was blamed for being fidgety and not showing trust in players’ abilities. This season though, Kohli has looked settled as the leader of the side and it has come down to the players as well who don’t look perplexed in the crucial junctures of the game. A sign of a good leader is to make people around you aware of the role they are expected to play and Kohli certainly has ticked this box in the season so far.
The team has been bowling well in pairs and the death bowling which was an Achilles heel for the team management has been considerably better in this IPL. Bowlers like Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini have been brilliant in phases that are deemed very difficult for bowlers while Yuzvendra Chahal has been on a perpetual growth curve.
On the other hand, the Kings XI Punjab have lost all the momentum they had in the beginning and are now staring at the possibility of becoming the first team to be knocked out of the race to the playoffs of the IPL 2020. The team had made a remarkable start in the season but too much chopping and changing of playing XI and inability of the team management to pick players and giving them longer ropes have been proved costly them.
The team management has shown signs of not relying on base and strengths and finding out the solutions for the apparent weakness but banking on new personnel to do the job in case of a few failures. The fact that teams have lost some key matches is also playing on the players' minds and matches scheduled very close to one another have also not worked in the Kings’ favour.
The trio of KL Rahul, Anil Kumble, and Andy Flower need to get their act together and infuse some fresh energy into the squad otherwise the season will be over even before the start of the frightening win-all situation in this season. The playing XI in the last few matches has shown the sign of a team that had forgotten to win matches and found unbelievable ways to lose matches that were impossible to lose.
The team will be buoyed by the turn of Chris Gayle and the team will be hopeful of him coming good with the bat. The team management had decided to include him in the playing XI two matches before but a food poisoning ruled the star Jamaican out of the action.
The KXIP team management will have a sigh of relief and will bank on him to produce a rollicking start at the top of the order. His inclusion will also stability to the batting order which otherwise has looked short n confidence and at times in search of answers as an in-form Mayank Agarwal will be pushed to an all-important number three position
The last time these two teams played against each other the opening pair of Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul had blown away the RCB’s bowling line up and won Punjab the match. The team hoped for a similar performance from the duo of Karnataka and with Gayle at the helm, would expect the top order to run the show against the RCB bowling lineup.
Match Number- 31
Date: 15th October 2020, at 7:30 PM IST
Venue: Sharjah
A used pitch will be used for the match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab. While a used pitch may provide turn and also be of a slower nature but banking on spinners to do the bulk of damage will be a clarion call. However, the duo of Washington Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal proved skillful spinners can outfox the batsmen even in Sharjah in the Royal Challengers’ last game against the Kolkata Knight Riders which was also played in Sharjah. The pitch in that match was on a slower side and very one except AB de Villiers had struggled to stroke the ball.
The captain winning the toss should have no hesitation in batting first and backing the batsmen to bat the opposition out of the game.
The weather in Sharjah will be ideal to play cricket and while the temperatures are expected to be in the mid 30 degrees range, the humidity will be on the lower side providing relief to players.
The RCB lineup looks complete and balanced with the inclusion of Chris Morris after he recovered from injury. The team looks solid in the batting department and although Aaron Finch has not looked like the Finch of international cricket, it’s unlikely Virat Kohli will take that tough call to leave out Finch and more when the team is going good. AB de Villiers will continue keeping wickets in order to maintain the team balance. Virat Kohli is all set to field an unchanged XI.
Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (wk), Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Isuru Udana, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
With Chris Gayle’s return, Glenn Maxwell is set to be axed from the playing XI after a horror run of form. Nicholas Pooran will be able to save his place after he rediscovered his form in the last few games while Chris Jordan may well be axed yet again after failing to provide KL Rahul control in the end overs against the Kolkata Knight Riders. Mujeeb Ur Rehman was expensive in the last game but is most likely to retain his place as the team is searching for wicket-takers in the middle overs.
KL Rahul (c), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Mandeep Singh, Nicholas Pooran, Simran Singh (wicketkeeper), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Chris Jordan/Sheldon Cottrell, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
AB de Villiers, Nicholas Pooran, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Mayank Agarwal, Chris Morris, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, Mohammad Shami, Ravi Bishnoi
Captain: Virat Kohli
Vice-captain: Mayank Agarwal
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