Change is the only constant and when it comes to the Indian Premier League, this is the most appropriate saying to summarise what all the cash-rich league has witnessed in the past one year. For starters, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had to move the 2020 season of the IPL to UAE looking at the Covid-19 situation. They tried to bring the tournament back in 2021 but had to suspend it midway after a rising number of Covid-19 cases in multiple franchise.
The IPL was suspended on May 4 forcing the BCCI to put a halt to the tournament. After a lot of deliberation and several countries showing interest in hosting the remainder of IPL 2021, it was decided that it will return to the UAE. This would be the third time and second instance on the trot when the IPL will be held in the country.
Nevertheless, after all the hustle and struggle, the tournament is back on track and the second encounter of this second half will be played between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders in Abu Dhabi.
The teams have distinguished and remarkably opposite portfolios as far as the IPL title is concerned. While RCB have played three finals and have won none, KKR have a couple of them under their belt. But these are the tales of the past.
Looking at the current scenario, RCB just seem to be a dominating force in the competition not just against the Kolkata-based franchise but in the IPL 2021. They etched wins in five out of the seven matches that they played during the India leg while thumped KKR by 38 runs in the previous respective clash.
RCB posted 204/4 in 20 overs riding on a masterclass from Glenn Maxwell who notched up 78 off 49 and a brutal assault from AB de Villiers who remained unbeaten at 34-ball 76.
The Bangalore franchise had bought Glenn Maxwell to strengthen the middle-order while Harshal Patel has been the highest-wicket taker so far in this season. Harshal’s contribution with the ball along with the presence of captain Virat Kohli, Maxwell and AB de Villiers in the batting unit has provided stability to RCB.
There have been only two occasions when the team failed to deliver. They lost the game against CSK after Ravindra Jadeja completely dominated and beat them. The all-rounder’s performance with both bat and ball thoroughly dominated RCB during the fixture.
Apart from this, the Kohli-led side suffered their second defeat against Punjab Kings after the batsmen failed to deliver and the team lost the match by 34 runs while chasing 180 eventually.
Harpreet Brar was on song after the spinner scalped the three priced wickets of Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers to put his side in front.
This was one rare instance in the tournament where the RCB batting line up especially Maxwell and de Villiers failed to leave a mark.
Kolkata, on the other hand, have faced some major issues with their form and have had a totally contrasting time during the first leg. The Knight Riders lost five out of the seven matches that they played.
One major aspect that the team management needs to fix as early as possible is consistency. If the batsmen have been among the runs, the bowlers have faced a tough time in the middle and vice-versa.
The two departments have failed to complement each other and this is surely a major cause of concern for the captain as well as the management.
But this has all been about the first half. The teams would be considering this as a new beginning.
Match Details
KKR vs RCB, IPL 2021, Match 31
Date and Time: 20th September 2021, 7:30 PM IST
Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Coverage: Star Sports Network
Pitch Report
The track at Sheikh Zayed Stadium seems to have something for the batsmen. Though, there would be swing on offer while the spinners won’t get much help from the pitch. The dew will be another major factor, so, if you win the toss, elect to field first.
Harshal Patel-An asset
Medium-pacer Harshal Patel has the most number of wickets so far in the competition. The right-hander has scalped 17 wickets in 7 matches at an average of 15.11.
Though he has been a bit expensive but has been picking up wickets for the side consistently. Moreover, Harshal has used the slower ones and the short and back of the length deliveries quite efficiently and this might help him in the second half of the IPL as well.
The right-arm bowler would be riding high on confidence, has wickets in his kitty and has some variation on offer.
RCB bank on youngsters
Every time Devdutt Padikkal plays a stroke, his batting stance and backlift reminds fans of Yuvraj Singh. Padikkal took just one IPL season to stamp his authority when he played for RCB for the first time in the last season.
The left-hander is back in the country where he forced everyone to notice him. The youngster has certainly carried that in this season as well after he scored a ton against the Rajasthan Royals in only his third game of the edition.
He has been able to give decent starts to RCB so far and the team would be expecting the same from him when they take the field again on Monday.
Stable middle-order
Captain Virat Kohli had been pretty vocal about including Glenn Maxwell in the setup and how the Australian player is there to provide stability in the middle-order.
In fact, Maxwell has been pretty successful in doing that so far in the IPL 2021 for the Bangalore team along with AB de Villiers who always have something new to unveil when he takes the guard.
With Kohli at the top and Maxwell and de Villiers in the middle-order, RCB have made good investments in making a steady batting line up.
Inconsistency can never be the KEY
As we talked earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders are struggling with consistency. When the batsmen score runs, the bowlers are not able to put a halt to the opponents’ scoring rate and when the bowlers are in good touch, the batsmen fail to leave a mark.
For instance, during their encounter against SRH, KKR put up a good total of 187/6 in 20 overs after Nitish Rana hammered the Hyderabad bowlers all around the park but won the match by only 10 runs despite picking up early wickets.
Similarly, against Mumbai Indians, the KKR bowlers bundled out the Mumbai team for 152 and the Kolkata openers Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill did provide them with a steady start but the side lost their way in the middle overs and eventually lost by 10 runs after getting restricted to 142/7 in 20 overs.
These are the only two instances out of the many where KKR have lacked in one of the two departments and have been struggling in the competition.
Andre Russell’s silence
Andre Russell is probably one of the finest all-rounders in white ball cricket but the right-hander hasn’t been up to the mark for KKR, neither with the bat nor with the ball. While he just has seven wickets in seven matches, he has managed to score 153 runs during the course so far. KKR would be wanting him to unleash an innings or two of his calibre. Well, he did one against CSK but that too went in vain as KKR lost the match.
Team News
RCB: There were a lot of additions and subtractions in the line ups after it was announced that the second leg of the IPL will be held in UAE and would end a couple of days ahead of the World T20 2021. Adam Zampa, Daniel Sams, Finn Allen, Scott Kuggeleijn, Kane Richardson and Washington Sundar are the players unavailable for the second leg of the IPL 2021.
“Finn Allen and Scott Kuggeleijn have both been selected for New Zealand tours, and they won’t be part of RCB. Kane Richardson has made himself unavailable, as has Daniel Sams,” Mike Hesson, RCB’s Director of Cricket Operations and now head coach, announced at a press conference earlier.
Sundar will be missing the remainder due to a finger injury. "Royal Challengers Bangalore's all-rounder Washington Sundar has been ruled out of the remainder of the Vivo IPL 2021 due to an impending finger injury," RCB said in a statement.
Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Tim David, George Garton and Akash Deep have been included in the squad.
“We have replaced Adam Zampa with Wanindu Hasaranga,” Hesson had said.
KKR: Tim Southee replaced Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins who had pulled out of the remainder citing personal reasons. "Kolkata Knight Riders, the two-time IPL Champions, has announced today that New Zealand pacer Tim Southee will replace Australian pace sensation Pat Cummins for the remainder of the Vivo Indian Premier League 2021 season," KKR said in a release.
Probable XI
Kolkata Knight Riders: Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (c), Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Shivam Mavi, Tim Southee, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers (wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammad Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
Fantasy XI
AB de Villiers (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Glenn Maxwell, Nitish Rana (vc), Wanindu Hasaranga, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Lockie Ferguson, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Varun Chakravarthy