Bengaluru, April 4 Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be highly optimistic about securing their second consecutive win in the IPL when they face Chennai Super Kings, who have been hampered by Sanju Samson's lackluster start and a lack of strong bowling options, here on Sunday.
The Royal Challengers are well-rested after their first game on March 28 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, which they won by six wickets at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Apart from that fresh start, RCB is now a significantly better team than their rivals, a stark contrast from the past when the Chennai team was full of talented players.
Now, RCB has that advantage. They have a settled top order led by Virat Kohli, who has remained relevant in the age of powerful hitting with impeccable skills.
After a phase of wasted talent, Devdutt Padikkal seemed to have awakened the inner white ball giant, as seen in his blistering 26-ball 61 against SRH.
Rajat Patidar appeared to have found his rhythm in his dual role of leading the team and providing support to RCB's middle order.
However, RCB's improvement is most evident in their bowling. Once considered their Achilles heel, the Bengaluru team has turned the tide by adding some strong players and making their bowling effective in all conditions.
The defending champions were expected to be affected by the absence of Josh Hazlewood, but Jacob Duffy stepped in seamlessly, destroying SRH's top order with a three-wicket haul.
He appeared to have connected well with Hazlewood, a connection evident in his bowling strategy as he troubled the Hyderabad batsmen with accurate short-pitched deliveries.
Once Hazlewood returns (which may not happen in the match against CSK), their bowling will be even stronger.
The hosts might also consider bringing in left-arm pacer Mangesh Yadav in place of Abhinandan Singh for this match.
Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma are not among the top T20 spinners, but they have served RCB well with their consistent middle-over spells, and they will now need to contain CSK's strong middle order, consisting of Shivam Dube, Sarfaraz Khan, and Ayush Mhatre.
The script will continue this weekend too, but CSK would want a different outcome.
However, for that, the Chennai bowlers need to change their approach. They have conceded 338 runs in 30.5 overs for only seven wickets in two matches – an inappropriate performance even considering the aggressive nature of the batsmen.
Their spinners, Noor Ahmad and Rahul Chahar, struggled against Punjab Kings on Friday, conceding 84 runs in eight overs, even without the presence of dew at Chepauk.
Pacers Matt Henry, Khaleel Ahmed, and Anshul Kamboj are also yet to perform consistently.
Their task will be challenging against a confident RCB batting line-up at the Chinnaswamy, with its short boundaries.
Concerns about Samson's form
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While RCB's batting looked in prime form early on, Chennai's batting has some issues to address, starting with Samson's form.
The T20 World Cup winner has so far scored 6 and 7, depriving CSK of their expected strong start.
Of course, it's just two matches, but Samson needs to find his rhythm quickly to revive Chennai's campaign.
There is no better opportunity for him than a match against their cross-state rivals, RCB.
Teams (from):
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Rajat Patidar (captain), Abhinandan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Devdutt Padikkal, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Rasikh Dar, Suyash Sharma, Swapnil Singh, Virat Kohli, Venkatesh Iyer, Mangesh Yadav, Kanishk Chouhan, Vihaan Malhotra, Vicky Ostwal, Satvik Deswal.
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, M.S. Dhoni, Mukesh Choudhary, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Shreyas Gopal, Khaleel Ahmed, Ayush Mhatre, Urvil Patel, Kartik Sharma, Prashant Veer, Rahul Chahar, Sarfaraz Khan, Aman Khan.
The match starts at 7.30 pm.
