IPL 10, Match 20, GL v RCB Preview: Struggling sides desperate to notch up wins

The Royal Challengers have failed to get their act together this season. They suffered another defeat in their previous encounter against Rising Pune Supergiant. The Gujarat Lions seem to be going through the same script. Both Royal Challengers and Gujarat Lions have won only one match in the season thus far. They languish at the bottom half of the points table. This is something that thinks tanks will be wary of.

Amidst this backdrop, the two teams desperately seeking a win are set to lock horns at Rajkot. The Lions have had a mixed bag of a season at their home venue. However, they will back themselves to do well at the venue considering the home advantage. On the other hand, RCB can also take pride from the fact that they have been one of the most successful visiting sides in the recent history of the tournament.

The problems for both the teams remain to be identical. It is the bowling that is seeing them struggle big time. RCB have the likes of Tymal Mills and Adam Milne in their armoury but they have not been match- winning bowlers for them yet. On the other hand, no bowler barring Andrew Tye has looked threatening with the ball for the Gujarat Lions. That said, it will be down to the team who bats well in the match. The better batting side on the day is sure to bag the winning accolades.

Toss: Gujarat Lions won the toss and opted to field

Suresh Raina: We like to bowl first. We always chase. We always like to chase. Jason Roy, Munaf and PK not playing

Virat Kohli: Looks like a pretty good pitch. It’s gonna be pretty consistent. Looking forward to put some runs. Both teams looking to win.

Focus will be on

Virat Kohli

The Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli is a big name player. With his team facing a downward slope in the tournament, a lot of eyes will be on Kohli. The RCB fans expect their skipper to lead from the front and help the side get back to the winning ways. Kohli, since his return, has played a couple of matches. In the first game, he managed to score 62 off just 47 balls and in the second game, he largely failed to convert a start to a big one. On both occasions, he saw his team succumb to defeats.

Dinesh Karthik

Gujarat Lions wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik has been a powerful performer for the Lions side in the season. He has been contributing in vital roles in the middle order. Karthik gets his chances towards the slog overs and has been donning the hat of the finisher for the Lions. He hit a quick unbeaten 48 in the previous match against the Mumbai Indians. Earlier in the season, he had played a similar quickfire cameo against the Kolkata Knight Riders as well when he had scored 47.

Andrew Tye

Andrew Tye is the only bowler in the Gujarat lineup who has looked like taking a wicket in the last two matches. The team will be relying on him to get them breakthroughs in the fixture against RCB. The RCB batting lineup boasts of some power hitters. Hence, Tye will have to use all his mix ups to ensure that he poses a threat to the opposition batsmen.

Team Combination – Gujarat Lions

Gujarat Lions had to play without the services of Aaron Finch in the previous match. Finch did not have his kit on the day and hence he had to miss out. Jason Roy was the beneficiary and had got his game on the day. In the match against RCB, expect Aaron Finch to be coming back in place of Roy in the match. However, they are likely to go with the same opening combination of Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum. Suresh Raina has been getting runs in the middle order and so is Dinesh Karthik. The team needs to address where they want to have a youngster like Ishan Kishan in the batting lineup. The team needs to give him time at the crease. In the bowling department, they will be heavily relying on Andrew Tye. Among the Indian contingent, Praveen Kumar is the certain starter and Munaf Patel did a decent job in the previous match too.

Suresh Raina has been getting runs in the middle order and so is Dinesh Karthik. The team needs to address where they want to have a youngster like Ishan Kishan in the batting lineup. The team needs to give him time at the crease. In the bowling department, they will be heavily relying on Andrew Tye. Among the Indian contingent, Praveen Kumar is the certain starter and Munaf Patel did a decent job in the previous match too.

Team Combination – Royal Challengers Bangalore

The RCB lineup suffered an embarrassing defeat against the Supergiant. However, they are likely to retain pretty much the same side that took on the RPS. Chris Gayle might get back to the side at the expense of Shane Watson who has been out of form for a long time. Virat Kohli will be opening with Gayle. AB de Villiers has been getting runs in the tournament thus far. Mandeep Singh and Stuart Binny have got their opportunities to make it count. However, they have largely been unsuccessful. In the bowling line up, do not get surprised to see Tymal Mills sit out of action yet again. Adam Milne bowled with sheer pace and aggression in the previous game. Yuzvendra Chahal and Pawan Negi will be the two spinners in the lineup in addition to the in-form bowler Samuel Badree. Among the Indian pacers, Sreenath Arvind will be the only one making the cut.

Mandeep Singh and Stuart Binny have got their opportunities to make it count. However, they have largely been unsuccessful. In the bowling line up, do not get surprised to see Tymal Mills sit out of action yet again. Adam Milne bowled with sheer pace and aggression in the previous game. Yuzvendra Chahal and Pawan Negi will be the two spinners in the lineup in addition to the in-form bowler Samuel Badree. Among the Indian pacers, Sreenath Arvind will be the only one making the cut.

Playing XI

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli(c), Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Travis Head, Kedar Jadhav(w), Shane Watson, Stuart Binny, Pawan Negi, Adam Milne, Sreenath Aravind, Yuzvendra Chahal

Gujarat Lions: Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina(c), Aaron Finch, Ishan Kishan, Dinesh Karthik(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Andrew Tye, Dhawal Kulkarni, Basil Thampi, Shivil Koushik

StatAttack

4234 – Number of runs scored by Suresh Raina in the IPL history. He is the leading run-scorer in the tournament. Virat Kohli is next with 4200 runs.

161 – Number of sixes hit by Suresh Raina in IPL history – next to only Chris Gayle (255) and Rohit Sharma (164).

3 – Number of RCB batsmen with 20 or more fifties in the IPL (Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli).