IPL 2020 | SRH vs RR: Tewatia-Parag step up to end Royals' losing streak

IPL 2020 | RCB vs KKR: Match Preview, Predicted XI & Dream11 Fantasy Picks

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. By the last game, with their 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 seemed 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. KKR need to be clinical in their approach The last two games that the Karthik led team won were mainly a result of their opponents failing to cease their moments. Not discrediting g the genius mind 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. RCB need to carry on 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. Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kolkata Knight Riders: Match Details Match Number- 28 Date: 12th October 2020, at 7:30 PM IST Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Pitch Report 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. Weather and Toss Sharjah has been hot and humid and the chances of the remaining the same are more. In the evenings it is however cools down because of the deserts. Also, the pitch gripping would mean that chasing is not favorable as results have shown. In such a scenario, the team winning the toss would like to bat first. Team News Kolkata Knight Riders 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. Expected XI 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 Royal Challengers Bangalore The RCB looks 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. Expected XI 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 Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kolkata Knight Riders: Dream 11 team and suggestions 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

IPL 2020: Virat Kohli reveals the 'one change' that helped regain his form

Virat Kohli returned to his elements against Chennai Super Kings on Saturday night in Dubai. An unbeaten 90* from the skipper helped Royal Challengers Bangalore register a resounding win over MS Dhoni and Co. Kohli played the big shots and ran hard between the wickets. A 76-run stand with Shivam Dube took Bangalore 169 - a total which looked uncertain after they were restricted to 93/4 at one stage. The 31-year-old didn’t have the best of starts in IPL 2020. Kohli could manage scores of 14, 1 and 3 in his first three outings but struck a fifty against the Royals before scoring 43 against Delhi. His latest knock will not only keep him in a good state of mind but it will be a big boost for RCB, who are at the fourth spot with eight points. He said putting pressure on himself didn’t help him perform. Hitting the winning runs against KXIP in the Super Over helped him to a great extent, according to the skipper. “It’s about understanding the conditions and respecting the game, instead of trying to hit every ball into the second tier of the stadium,” Kohli after his side’s 37-run win over CSK. “Having played so much cricket, especially T20 cricket, I have learnt that if you are set at death, you can capitalize. Before that, I was trying to do too much. If you think too much about responsibility, you get burdened. That Super Over where I had to strike, else we would have lost, freed me up. Training all these days also helped.” he added.

IPL 2020: Spinner Sunil Narine reported for suspect bowling action

Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Sunil Narine’s bowling action is under scanner yet again. The Windies cricketer has been reported for suspect bowling action post Knight Riders’ clash with Kings XI Punjab in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. Narine returned with figures of 2/28 and defended 14 runs in the last over to help his side snatch an unlikely win by 2 runs. The on-field umpires reported Narine’s action yesterday. "Narine will be placed on the warning list and is permitted to continue to bowl in the tournament," the IPL said. It has also been stated that another report will eventually get Narine suspended from the league until he is cleared by the Board of Control for Cricket in India's suspect bowling action committee. The mystery spinner was instrumental in KKR winning two trophies in the money-spinning league. He bagged 24 and 21 wickets in the 2012 and 2014 season respectively, hence becoming a vital cog in the team’s set-up. The Knights are currently at the third place in the points table, having picked eight points in six games. KXIP, on the other hand, find themselves at the bottom with six losses in seven outings. KKR’s next game is against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday.

IPL 2020 | RCB vs CSK: 3 Reasons Why Virat Kohli-led Bangalore beat Chennai by 37 runs

The Indian Premier League 2020 has almost wrapped up its fourth week and while the tournament has been the most unpredictable in years, several strong patterns have emerged in the course of the 25 matches it has played. While some may be more significant than others, but nothing has come as a bigger shock than the Chennai Super Kings failing to grab any ground in the tournament with courtesy their awful batting display. CSK batting has been so inconsistent that after winning their 4th match against Kings XI Punjab by 10 wickets (chasing 179) they crumbled in their next one against Kolkata Knight Riders, failing to chase a paltry target of 168 runs. The story was scripted along the similar lines on Saturday, 10 October against the Royal Challengers Bangalore when Chennai batting line-up looked lost of ideas, a painful thing to watch for any CSK faithful who has basked in the glory of this champion team for over a decade. On that note, here are the three reasons why Chennai Super Kings lost by 37 runs chasing a 170-run target against Virat Kohli led Royal Challengers Bangalore. Virat Kohli There are few things to watch in world cricket than Virat Kohli in full flow. Wait, scratch that, there is nothing better in cricket than watching Kohli bat in full control of his entire arsenal. Coming into bat in the third over after Aaron Finch’s weakness against inswingers were once again exposed by a nippy Deepak Chahar, Kohli took control of the stage. In an innings that had so many facets, Virat Kohli oozed class and gave a masterclass in balance, shot selection, maximising output and running between the wickets. If this was not enough, the impeccably paced innings, pulled Royal Challengers right out of trouble in the final overs of the game while Chennai players looked like they had no clue what hit them. From 95/4 in 15 overs, Kohli’s acceleration propelled RCB to 169/4 at the end of 20 overs, with the King himself remaining not out at 90 off just 52 balls at a mammoth strike rate of 173.08. Chris Morris What a way to introduce yourself to your new franchise. After being out of the action for a side strain, Morris ran through the Chennai lower order picking up three crucial wickets of Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo. Used strategically throughout the innings by Virat Kohli, Morris opened the bowling for the franchise but was taken off after his first over, despite giving away just four runs. He was brought back int the 10th over where he troubled debutant Narayan Jagadeesan with his pace and bounce of the pitch. He returned to bowl the 17th and the 19th over picking up three wickets in quick succession off just 19 runs in his four overs. Above all, Morris’ inclusion in the Bangalore side made the team look more complete than it was before. When RCB aggressively bid for Morris in the auction last year, it was clear that Mike Hesson had plans for the big man and RCB would be super stoked that it came through in the first match itself. Morris never looked out of place in the line-up and delivered from ball one. He could be a huge game-changer for Bangalore if he stays fit throughout the tournament. CSK batting intent Nothing can be added to what already has been said about the ageing batting line-up. MS Dhoni in the last night’s press conference spoke about the need to fix the batting department and the fact that it was time to change the approach. “…our main worry remains the batting department. In the coming games, we'll try to be more expressive.” Dhoni said. Acknowledging that there are too many holes in the ship to plug Dhoni said that they might try playing the other way around in the final overs. “Batting has been a bit of a worry and today also it was evident. We need to do something about it. I think we are better off playing the other way round, playing the bigger shots even if you get out. That is something we can do in the coming games.” Dhoni added. Chennai Super Kings are in deep, deep trouble after losing their game against RCB and have to find out answers to their myriad of problems soon. A mid-season transfer could be an option for them, but that comes with its own problems. Bangalore, on the other hand, looked good with the inclusion of Chris Morris and do not have a reason not to play the same XI in the exciting next game against Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday, 12 October.