Bombay: The wretched form of the tough Virat Kohli would be re-examined when… Royal Challengers Bangalore face table toppers Gujarat Titans in an Indian Premier League game here on Saturday.
Kohli has scored just 128 runs in nine appearances for RCB this season, 48 of which were his highest score. His promotion to opening position in RCB’s previous game after also scoring back-to-back ducks didn’t yield any results as he was out for 9.
Kohli’s form was one of the reasons for the inconsistent showing from RCB, who are currently in fifth place with five wins from nine matches.
However, the Bengaluru-based team are hoping the former India captain will soon get back into shape with captain Faf du Plessis backing him after their last game.
On the other hand, the Titans were the side to watch this IPL. Whatever they touched turned to gold with unlikely match winners popping up every time they were in trouble.
With seven wins from eight games and a steak winning in five games, the Titans are the clear favorites to win Saturday’s game. If they do, they virtually book a play-off berth.
In their previous game against Sunrisers Hyderabad, the Titans struggled in a solid 196 chase, but Rashid Khan, more known for his leg spin exploits, and proven finisher Rahul Tewatia skipped four sixes in the last to win their game. steal opponents.
The Titans have shown that if their highest rank fails, there is certainty that the lower rank can save the team, although captain Hardik Pandya hoped his side’s luck would not run out later in the tournament.
For the Titans, Pandya was the top scorer with 305 runs from seven games and under his “relaxed” approach, the team seems to be thriving. He will once again be the top man to take the points, along with the likes of Shubman Gill, David Miller and Wriddhiman Saha.
It’s not that RCB doesn’t have the depth of strike, but the problem for them is that they often didn’t shoot as a team. By the way, Kohli’s struggle, Australian Glenn Maxwell has blown hot and cold so far with just 124 runs from six games and with half a century.
Only captains Faf du Plessis, Dinesh Karthik and Shahbaz Ahmed have done well so far and they must once again take responsibility for scoring the majority of runs against a balanced bowling attack from the Titans.
It could be an interesting match on the bowling front as both sides have some of the best players this season.
Mohammed Shami was the top bowler for the Titans with 13 wickets and with fast bowler Lockie Ferguson and premier leg spinner Rashid Khan – although he went 45 runs without a wicket in the previous match – in their ranks the Titans have a deadly bowling attack that will leave any opposition can decimate.
RCB also has firepower in bowling in death-over specialist Harshal Patel, who has taken 12 wickets to date, the equally successful Sri Lankan Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva (13 wickets) and along with quality spacers such as Mohammed Siraj and Josh Hazlewood, they can stop the Titans’ batters on their trail.
If they do, and the maestro Kohli clicks the bat, it could be Saturday for everyone.
The teams (of):
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik, Josh Hazlewood, Shahbaz Ahmed, Anuj Rawat, Akash Deep, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Shelfane Rutherford, Jason Behrendorff, Suyash Prabhudesai, Chama Milind, Aneeshwar Gautam, Karn Sharma, David Willey, Rajat Patidar, Siddharth Kaul.
Gujarat Titans: Hardik Pandya (c), Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Gurkeerat Singh, B Sai Sudarshan, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Matthew Wade, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Wriddhiman Saha, Alzarri Joseph, Darshan Nalkande, Dominic Drakes, Jayant Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, Pradeep Sangwan, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Varun Aaron, Yash Dayal.
The match starts at 3:30 PM.
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