IPL 2021: Match 43, RR vs RCB Preview, Playing XI, Live Streaming Details & Updates

In the reverse fixture earlier this year, RCB steamrolled the Royals by 10 wickets thanks to Devdutt Padikkal’s maiden IPL ton.

Published - 29 Sept 2021, 01:58 IST | Updated - 29 Sept 2021, 01:58 IST

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No. 3 versus No. 6. Royal Challengers Bangalore’s status on the table is exactly the mirror image of their Wednesday rivals Rajasthan Royals: Kohli’s men have won six and lost four, while Samson’s have lost six and won four.

After a shaky start to their UAE campaign that saw them lose two on the trot, RCB made a spirited comeback against Mumbai Indians, defeating them by a margin (54 runs) comprehensive by even ODI standards, let alone T20s. The games RCB lost in UAE were ones where most things that clicked for them in the Indian leg did not click. For instance, Glenn Maxwell and Harshal Patel.

Against Mumbai, though, these two were the chief architects of the victory. Maxwell smashed a 37-ball 56 studded with outrageous strokes before he doubled that with the ball, picking 2/23. Having resumed the season with the Purple Cap on his head, Patel was not at his devastating best against either KKR or CSK, but he made up for that in some style, bagging 4/17, including a hat-trick – only third by an RCB bowler in IPL history.

Against Mumbai, they also got a glimpse of an answer to their No. 3 quandary – running ever since skipper Virat Kohli has taken up opening duties – in KS Bharat, who looked aggressively fluent in his 32 off 24. With Yuzvendra Chahal claiming 3/11, worries perhaps remain only to the end of Kyle Jamieson and, as unexpected as it may sound, AB de Villiers, whose UAE leg scores read 0, 12, 11.

Rajasthan Royals, on the other hand, enter this contest on the back of two defeats after they won one they had no business winning. The Royals scripted a perfect heist against Punjab Kings before allowing both Delhi Capitals and, more recently, Sunrisers Hyderabad to get the better of them. Dented by the absence of multiple star overseas players, and their replacements not putting their hands up the way they would have liked, the Royals have been found wanting often.

Even during their two-run win over Punjab, their top-order got runs but the middle-order succumbed. Against Delhi, not one batter showed enough strength to give their skipper Sanju Samson a helping hand while chasing 155. Whereas against Hyderabad, it was a repeat of the same story, albeit while setting a target instead of chasing, with Sanju Samson scoring exactly a half of the runs Royals had set their opponents to win. And SRH did chase it down eventually, as Samson’s second half-century went in vain in as many games.

In a team sport, individual brilliance can perhaps take a side closer to the victory line, but not beyond. For some reason or the other, the Royals have always been the team that fails to click in unison. After a wooden spoon finish in 2020 in the emirates, they have a chance to avoid a similar fate striking them, with four matches still to go, provided more people from their unit volunteer contributions.

They would also want to avenge a ruthless 10-wicket defeat that RCB handed them in the reverse fixture, when Devdutt Padikkal, with an unbeaten 52-ball 101, and Kohli, unbeaten 47-ball 72 chased down 178 in 16.3 overs.

Pitch and conditions

The track in Dubai has shown a tendency of being slightly two-paced. While that has helped the bowlers, the uneven ground dimensions have also worked against them. The highest score in the season has been Rajasthan’s 185 against Punjab, although the first-innings average in the five games this season has been 161. A hot and humid evening awaits the two sides.

Playing combinations for RR vs RCB

Rajasthan Royals

Royals made four changes in their line-up against Hyderabad, with only one of them being forced as injured Kartik Tyagi was replaced by Jaydev Unadkat. If fit, Tyagi would be slot in straight. David Miller and Tabraiz Shamsi missed out for Chris Morris and Evin Lewis. None of the changes, however, could perform. The only other positive for the Royals, Samson’s batting form aside, has been the impressive shows of Mustafizur Rahman and Chetan Sakariya.

Predicted XI: Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Liam Livingstone, Mahipal Lomror, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris/Tabraiz Shamsi, Chetan Sakariya, Jaydev Unadkat/Kartik Tyagi, Mustafizur Rahman

Royal Challengers Bangalore

RCB are unlikely to change

Predicted XI: Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Srikar Bharat (wk), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Shahbaz Ahmed, Daniel Christian, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal