Following the hard-hitting sensation at the helm, the Bangalore will be playing in their own backyard with the likes of explosive Chris Gayle followed by Mandeep Singh, Travis Head, Shane Watson and Kedar Jadhav, in a bid to give their team first win of the season against revamped Delhi Daredevils at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, in the fifth match of the tournament on Saturday.
After Bangalore faltered in the run-chase against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the opener of the IPL, the hosts would completely rely on their top order batsmen – to set the tone.
However, the hosts have an inexperienced unit of bowlers at the helm as stand-in skipper Shane Watson will again lead the side for their second game on a belter of a pitch.
Hosts’ bowling is expected to be spearheaded by fast bowler Tymal Mills, as slow bowling arsenal will be led by Yuzvendra Chahal.
Bangalore have also availed the services of leg-spinner Samuel Badree from West Indies and they would be eyeing to use him as the tournament progresses.
While getting into the numbers, Daredevils qualified for semi-finals in 2008, 2009 and 2012, as they would be eyeing to win their opener against Bangalore, to gain the early momentum which does not seem that easy.
However, Delhi Daredevils lost South African Quinton De Kock due to a finger injury for the entire tournament which was followed by top-order batsman Shreyas Iyer, who is expected to stay out of the competition for at least one week, after suffering from Chickenpox.
On the other hand, Jean-Paul Duminy opted out of the tournament while citing the personal reasons, whereas Sri Lankan Angelo Matthews will join the squad later as he is recovering from an injury.
Daredevils’ skipper Zaheer Khan is expected to lead the bowling attack and it would be interesting to watch how things pan out for the left-arm fast bowler.
Looking stronger on the page in bowling combination, Daredevils have players like Pat Cummins and Kagiso Rabada in their seam-bowling department.
The West Indies Twenty20 skipper and World Cup 2016 hero Carlos Brathwaite and Corey Anderson will add strength to bolster the middle-order line-up as Mohammad Shami, Rabada would become ideal partners for Zaheer with the new ball.
Previous Encounters: RCB Vs DD = 1-1
On April 17, 2016, Delhi Daredevils stun Bangalore in the eleventh match of the ninth edition by seven wickets with five balls to spare, as Quinton de Kock’s 51-ball 108 made things easier for the visitors when Zaheer Khan went at 12.50 runs in an over.
Daredevils chased down the target of 192 in 19.1 overs as Karun Nair also smashed unbeaten 54 off 41 balls.
Bangalore came back hard at Daredevils in the 56th match in Raipur when they chased down the target of 139 with six wickets in hand in 18.1 overs. It was Yuvzendra Chahal, who picked three wickets for Bangalore in four overs while conceding 32 runs.
Recent Form: (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
L- Lost the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 05 by 35 runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Talking Points:
Both the teams have been marred by different injuries to their respective players, as die-hard fans are expecting to witness star players in action soon after gaining the complete fitness to enthral the spectators.
On the other side, it’s not the rosy scene for home side Bangalore as they are likely to miss out on few star players again which skipper Virat Kohli and AB Devilliers, who is nursing back injury and latter had suffered shoulder injury during Ranchi Test against Australia.
Interestingly, it becomes pertinent Bangalore who was bundled out for the first time in 23 matches during the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday night in Pune.
Rishabh Pant, who has been a promising prospect, would also miss out on an IPL game for Daredevils, after his father’s death, this week.
However, it has not been clear whether he would return to the squad or not.
Predicted XI of Royal Challengers Bangalore:
Mandeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Shane Watson (Captain), Travis Head, Sachin Baby, Kedar Jadhav (wicketkeeper), Stuart Binny, Aniket Choudhary, Yuzvendra Chahal, Tymal Mills and Pawan Negi.