The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 is now two weeks old. Once again, the youngsters have risen to the occasion. The seasoned campaigners, too, have been justifying their value in the squads. All these are known patterns.
But the one aspect that has surprised all is the fact that Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are no longer overly dependent on AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli. Perhaps not coincidentally, for the first time in history, they have won three games on the trot. They are still the only unbeaten side this year.
The new additions, in the forms of Glenn Maxwell and Harshal Patel, have certainly brought a lot of balance in their line-up.
Match 16 of the IPL 2021 will feature Bangalore taking on Rajasthan Royals (RR) – a battle of the Royals, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, on April 22.
In their previous match, Kohli & co. had a 38-run victory over two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders. Riding on the brutal force of Maxwell (78 in 49) and de Villiers (76 in 34), RCB posted 204/4 in the first innings and later defended it comprehensively.
Rajasthan, on the other hand, have yet again stumbled in the early phase in IPL 2021. They have bagged just one win out of three matches so far. If they want to beat Bangalore, their death-bowling needs to click.
Led by Sanju Samson, Rajasthan have plenty of concerns in their line-up. They may drop Manan Vohra to bring Yashasvi Jaiswal in the top order. Vohra had got starts in the opening three games but yet he failed to convert those into big ones.
Shivam Dube, too, has struggled in the middle-order. Dube, who played for Bangalore before, may sacrifice his place for Shreyas Gopal, whose record against Bangalore speaks volumes of his abilities.
Bangalore, on the other hand, may bring Finn Allen in the playing XI on the pacy Wankhede turf. Shahbaz Ahmed is likely to be the one to miss out for the Kiwi. Remember, Bangalore had played with only three overseas players last time, against Kolkata.
Bangalore are likely to give Rajat Patidar another go. Patidar had got two chances to impress the spectators by coming at Kohli’s usual No. 3 position but has failed to cross the double-digit mark on both attempts.
Head to head
Bangalore have played Rajasthan 22 times. Both teams have got ten wins each, while two matches ended with no result.
Key Players
Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore): Everything has been going Bangalore’s way at the moment. But, the one thing which their fans want to witness is a big knock from their skipper himself. Kohli is yet to unleash himself in IPL 2021. Perhaps tonight is the when he kickstarts against the comparatively weak Rajasthan bowlers.
Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals): Buttler had played some glorious shots against Chennai Super Kings in their recent encounter but fell a run short of his first half-century of the season. Samson, however, had departed early from the middle after poor shot selections in the last two games. The Rajasthan pair need to click if they fancy their chances against Bangalore.
Likely XIs
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Finn Allen (wk), Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), David Miller, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman
Prediction: A close contest. Perhaps a Rajasthan win.