As Twenty20 cricket has become a norm and equally the festive season now across the globe following its popularity, it’s going to be an exciting contest of white-ball cricket between Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore when they will face-off in the seventh fixture of Indian Premier League (IPL) 10 in Indore on Monday.
Both teams have star-studded batting line-up at their helm which is a great force for any team to reckon in the shorter version of the game. However, the host’s all-round department looks balanced than the visitors.
Coming to power-hitters, the two teams will be banking purely on them as the complexion of the game gets changed in no time with such prospects swinging willow or happening to roll over the arm before doing their best on the field to become the centre of attraction.
Overview:
KXIP: Let’s take a look at the host first, who seemed to have a settled unit in batting department while backing their local pool of bowlers which further becomes a question mark as the tournament would progress and they will be tested for their skills.
RCB: While having a view at Bangalore, the side has the best batsmen in the squad. However, RCB is marred by injuries which forced the Bangalore-based outfit to opt for veteran all-rounder Shane Watson as an interim skipper as Virat Kohli is nursing the shoulder injury which he received in Ranchi Test while fielding against Australia.
Having the ability to beat any stronger team and batter any decent bowling line-up, Royal Challengers are setting the tempo high for upcoming fixtures as they’ll also have the services of their regular skipper Virat Kohli and flamboyant AB de Villiers.
Bangalore lost their opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad before claiming the second encounter at home against Delhi Daredevils.
However, Royal Challengers would be aiming to have Virat Kohli as soon as possible in the team to lead the side where from he has left with the bat in the last season.
View On Think Tank:
KXIP: The coaching staff has shown faith in bowlers from India, who haven’t had that much of an experience.
However, in their first encounter Kings XI bowlers did splendidly well before Glenn Maxwell and David Miller wrapped the game for Kings XI Punjab in style by six wickets at Holkar Stadium.
RCB: After blowing up against Sunrisers, the head coach Daniel Vettori would also be focusing on fielding which stays as an essential element in the game of cricket.
‘Catches win matches,’ this is what we have been hearing and RCB would be fighting it out as their coaching staff has been doing their homework with boys before gearing up for the initial stage of the mega tournament.
RCB also come from a home win by 15 runs against Delhi Daredevils on Saturday night.
Tracking The Strength:
KXIP:
Having Hashim Amla at the top alongside Manan Vohra is an ideal choice to go with as both have the ability to smash the ball long in harsh Indian conditions. The side could also inflict the pain for opposition by involving swashbuckling Martin Guptill.
The key position in their line-up is held by David Miller and skipper Glenn Maxwell himself, who have the capability to chase down any daunting task on their day.
Fast bowler Sandeep Sharma has the ability to swing the ball to change the fortunes for Kings XI.
RCB:
The swashbuckling Chris Gayle is a threat for any line-up given his wide range of shots followed by Kedar Jadhav and skipper Shane Watson himself.
If AB de Villiers would be available for Bangalore, he would provide an edge over the rest of the batters in a bid to set a big score on the board.
It becomes pertinent that an injury-marred de Villiers was nursing back and to opt out of domestic competition in South Africa.
Moreover, Bangalore has put their hopes on a blend of spinners followed by two foreign fast bowlers Billy Stanlake and Tymal Mills to throttle the opponents and would also be relying on all-rounder Stuart Binny to fetch the results.
Possibilities In The Line-Up:
KXIP: Kings XI’s contingent is also strengthened by foreign recruits which include Martin Guptill, Darren Sammy, Shaun Marsh and Eoin Morgan. It further depends on how Maxwell will use the stock which has been made available to him.
Guptill has a chance to break into the Playing XI as there are chances he might replace Hashim Amla at the top.
There is a possibility of seeing foreign fast bowler Matt Henry to go alongside Marcus Stoinis in order to bring some sort of stability in the coming fixtures for the Mohali-based outfit.
RCB: The costliest buy as a bowler for Bangalore Tymal Mills is expected to feature in the initial stage of the tournament and could further continue if he delivers at the crunch situations for RCB.
On the other side, RCB would like to continue with their mixed combination of fast bowling of foreign and local talent.
However, their weak link is bowling department which also lacks experience if we don’t consider Watson on the list.
Positives Note:
However, Kings XI Punjab would be brimming with confidence as they are coming from a comfortable win against Supergiant and are hosting second game on the trot in Indore which has been traditionally helped the slow bowlers.
On the other hand, with the inclusion of AB de Villiers in the Playing XI of Bangalore, he would boost the morale of the team as Men in Red.
Head-to-Head:
So far, Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore have played 18 matches in which Kings XI claimed 10 wins since both sides met in the inaugural edition of IPL.
Interestingly, the last two encounters were won by Bangalore in the ninth edition of IPL in 2016 season.
Prediction:
Prediction is always a hard thing to do. One doesn’t know what teams would bring to the table on their given day.
While having the numbers, Kings XI seems to have slightly better off Bangalore, who can’t be even written off.
-> Here we are predicting Kings XI Punjab may emerge as the winners.
Batting first would see 170-plus but not more than 190 score given the slow wicket.
We’re also expecting the team who would bat second will seal the game.
Playing XI Of Both Teams:
KXIP: Martin Guptill/Hashim Amla, Manan Vohra, Glenn Maxwell (C), David Miller, Axar Patel, Marcus Stoinis, Wriddhiman Saha, Rinku Singh/Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Mohit Sharma, Sandeep Sharma and Varun Aaron.
RCB: Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Billy Stanlake/AB de Villiers, Shane Watson (capt.), Kedar Jadhav (wk), Stuart Binny, Vishnu Vinod, Iqbal Abdulla, Yuzvendra Chahal, Tymal Mills and Aniket Choudhary.