Strongest Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Playing XI against Chennai Super Kings (CSK)

The Royal Challengers Bangalore side started their campaign in Phase 2 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on a disastrous note. The Virat Kohli-led outfit was outplayed by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in every department of the game and was decimated by 9 wickets.

Next up, the Bangalore side will be up against the mighty Chennai Super Kings. The ‘Men in Yellow’ started their campaign in IPL 2021 on a positive note, beating the Mumbai Indians (MI) side by 20 runs. The Bangalore side will surely be looking for a reversal of fortunes when they take the field against CSK.

Openers: Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal

Batting maestro Virat Kohli and left-hander Devdutt Padikkal will stride out to open the batting for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their clash against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Kohli’s innings in the match against the Kolkata side lasted just 4 balls. After hitting a boundary, the RCB skipper was trapped plumb in front of the stumps for just 5 runs by Prasidh Krishna.

On the other hand, Devdutt Padikkal got off to a start, but could not convert his start into a big score. The 21-year-old scored 22 off 20 deliveries before he was dismissed by Lockie Ferguson. RCB will be hoping that both Kohli and Padikkal can give a good start at the top of the order against CSK.

Middle Order: Srikar Bharat, Glenn Maxwell, Ab de Villiers, and Sachin Baby

Srikar Bharat consumed 19 balls against the KKR side and was dismissed for 16 runs. He struck a solitary boundary, but before he could kick on and get a big score, the wicketkeeper-batsman was removed by Andre Russell. The overseas duo of Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers failed to get going in RCB’s clash against KKR.

While de Villiers was cleaned up for a golden duck by Andre Russell, Maxwell could only muster 10 runs, before Varun Chakravarthy dismissed him. Both Maxwell and de Villiers need to step up for RCB against an upbeat Chennai outfit. Sachin Baby scratched his way to a painful 17-ball 7 in RCB’s previous match.

All Rounder: Wanindu Hasaranga

The all-rounder’s spot in the RCB side will be taken up by Wanindu Hasaranga. Hasaranga’s IPL debut started off in a disastrous fashion, and the Sri Lankan cricketer failed with both bat and ball.

While he was dismissed for a first-ball duck with the bat against KKR, Hasaranga leaked 20 runs in the 2 overs that he bowled and failed to scalp even a single wicket with the ball as well.

Bowlers: Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, and Yuzvendra Chahal

The RCB side will go in with a three-pronged pace attack, and the three pacers who will take the field for the Virat Kohli-led side are Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, and Mohammed Siraj. All three pacers went wicketless in the encounter against the Eoin Morgan-led Kolkata side.

Jamieson was taken to the cleaners by Venkatesh Iyer and Shubman Gill in RCB’s previous match. The tall Kiwi pacer leaked 26 runs in the 2 overs that he bowled, and gave away 3 fours and a six in his 12-ball spell.

Even though Harshal Patel was tidy with the ball, and gave away only 13 runs in his 2 overs, the fact that RCB’s highest wicket-taker in the tournament could not provide them a breakthrough hurt Virat Kohli and his boys. Mohammed Siraj bowled 2 overs and gave away 12 runs against KKR.

The lone specialist spinner who will play for RCB against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is Yuzvendra Chahal. The right arm leg spinner was on the expensive side in RCB’s previous rubber. Chahal gave away 23 runs in his 2-over spell and picked up the wicket of Shubman Gill. RCB would surely need its bowling attack to put up a better show against the Chennai Super Kings.