Royal Challengers are back on their home turf as they are set to take on a Rajasthan Royals side that has seen their strong start to the season compromised by recent setbacks. Two losses and a washout leaves them a little short of confidence, but they are sitting pretty at second spot in the IPL table. However they will have to be back at their best to subdue the home crowd, whose side have been on the rise of late.
RCB have put the disappointments at the beginning of the season on the back seat, and notched up two impressive wins, one of which was against today’s opponents.They bundled out RR for less than 100 in their previous encounter before achieving the target with 9 wickets in hand. Mitchell Starc showed what a difference a world class bowler can make as the entire bowling unit now looks pretty good. Chahal’s injury is a concern and is still unsure whether he will be fit in time.The other confidence booster for RCB is the return of form of Gayle and Kohli. With AB set to come in at 3, RCB have finally got their best batsmen facing the larger number of balls.
Rajasthan Royals have seen a number of players going off form at the same time. The overseas players Chris Morris, Faulkner and Steve Smith have all under performed and too much is put on the shoulders on Rahane and Watson. The other bowlers have also struggled off late to pick up wickets.At a batsmen friendly pitch like the one at Bangalore, they will have to be brave enough to hit the right areas.Hooda might get a bat higher up the order to exploit the shorter boundaries. Tim Southee for Faulkner is a change which the team management will consider.
RCB go in to match as slight favourites.but have lost all three matches at home.RR meanwhile will look to get their stuttering season back on track with a victory to go back on top.
srikantkk 