After suffering three huge losses in their first four games, Royal Challengers Bangalore notched up an easy win against Delhi Daredevils, thanks to AB de Villiers’s unbeaten 90 off 39 balls.
Advertisement
With this win, they jumped to the sixth position with four points from five games and their skipper Virat Kohli will hope that the match against Delhi was the beginning of their resurgence this season.
Coming at the back of a big win, RCB will look to reignite their rivalry with Chennai Super Kings as they host their South Indian rivals at Chinnaswamy Stadium tomorrow (April 25).
OPENERS:
Manan Vohra
Manan Vohra was drafted into the side for the game against Delhi Daredevils but unfortunately, he couldn’t do much before he was dismissed early on in the innings.
Skipper Virat Kohli might give the right-hander yet another chance to prove himself at the top of the order.
Quinton De Kock
The South African wicketkeeper-batsman has been in good touch since the start of the IPL. He is getting his team off to a flying start but is unable to convert those starts into big knocks, something that he will be looking to do in the upcoming matches.
Skipper Virat Kohli will want the Protea opener to come good and laid a strong foundation for the RCB innings.
MIDDLE ORDER:
Virat Kohli
RCB skipper Virat Kohli has been in ominous form in the 2018 IPL as he is the only batsman from their side who is scoring runs on a consistent basis. Though none of his knocks came in a match-winning cause, the Indian skipper will look to lead from the front and turn things around for his side.
He is just a handful of runs away from regaining the Orange Cap but getting it back will be the last thing on his mind as he is someone who puts his team above his personal milestones.
AB de Villiers
RCB have played five matches this season and out of the five, they managed to win just two. One man who starred in both the matches is South African import AB de Villiers as he scored match-winning fifties in both the games.
De Villiers is in good form and the team management will want him to carry on his good work with the bat against Chennai Super Kings and RCB’s upcoming matches this season.
Mandeep Singh
With a world-class top-4, Mandeep’s job is to finish the innings well as the top-order will take responsibility and bat for a majority of the overs and the Punjab batsman is exactly doing the same thing. His form is one of the few things to cherish for RCB.
Corey Anderson
The Kiwi all-rounder was amongst the wickets in his first match against Mumbai but failed with the bat.
It was the complete opposite in RCB’s previous match as he bowled just one over and scored some crucial runs with the bat towards the end of their innings. He is likely to be persisted with ahead of his countryman Colin de Grandhomme..
Washington Sundar
A lot was expected from Washington Sundar ahead of the 2018 IPL. But, the all-rounder form Tamil Nadu has looked off-colour this season apart from a couple of matches against Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab. Washington coming back to form will be crucial for RCB as he is one of the vital cogs in their bowling unit.
Chris Woakes
Even though Chris Woakes has been amongst the wickets, he has been leaking runs at will. Skipper Kohli would like to see an economical Woakes and the Englishman will be hoping to keep the run flow under control in the upcoming matches.
Umesh Yadav
Umesh Yadav has been RCB’s best bowler so far and apart from the match against the Royals where he conceded 59 runs, he has given RCB the perfect start while bowling but has not been effective enough in the death.
Kohli will look to use him in a similar way he was used against Delhi Daredevils against whom he finished his quota of overs early.
Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzvendra Chahal has not been at his best in the tournament so far. He has not been able to pick up wickets at regular intervals and his economy rate has been quite high as well. He will need to get back to his best and come to the party.
Mohammed Siraj
When Mohammed Siraj was given the nod to play for RCB, he was expected to go for runs as he was taken to the cleaners in his recent T20 matches, be it with India or Hyderabad.
But, the youngster came good in both the matches he played and will hope to continue his good work.
