IPL 2021: Former India cricketer Lalchand Rajput predicts RCB to win against KKR

The thirty-first match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (RR) is currently in progress in Abu Dhabi. Winning the toss, the Royal Challengers’ skipper Virat Kohli opted to bat.

“We will bat first. Looks like a good pitch, the grass will hold it together, will slow down as the game progresses. This one’s special, we promised back in May that we’ll play for the Covid warriors, here it is – we’ll auction this uniform and the proceeds will go to them. Two debutants for us – KS Bharat and Wanindu Hasranga,” Kohli, who is playing his 200^th match for RCB, said at the toss.

His counterpart, KKR skipper Eoin Morgan said: [Pitch] looks really good, it should stay pretty similar for the entire length of the game. Hoping that the performances will change in this phase of the tournament. It’s been challenging, but we are happy to be back here.

Lalchand Rajput picks RCB over KKR

Former India cricketer, coach and the CricTracker expert Lalchand Rajput reckons that the Virat Kohli-led Challengers will be able to take an edge over Morgan and his men in this encounter to record their dixth win in the season.

Speaking at CricTracker’s Live Show In the Air, Rajput said: “I think Royal Challengers Bangalore will win, because they are batting first on a good wicket, and they have got bowlers. The RCB spinners are good. So, hopefully getting runs on the board will put pressure on KKR.”

“Andre Russell might be under a bit of pressure if RCB can post a good total. Russell has been in fine form, but under pressure players often try to do something different. So, if they build a good score batting first, RCB have a good chance here.”

Playing XI

Kolkata Knight Riders: Venkatesh Iyer, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan, 6 Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, KS Bharat (wk), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Wanindu Hasaranga, Sachin Baby, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal

 

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