Match 49 of this edition of the Indian Premier League will see the bottom-placed teams – Royal Challengers Bangalore go up against Rajasthan Royals at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. While Bangalore have almost lost the race of qualification, Rajasthan leaves by the rope to progress. They need to win both their games to give themselves a chance to get to the playoffs.
Royals are coming off back-to-back wins, the first time they have been able to do so all tournament. Surprisingly, they have achieved this without Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer. Rajasthan Royals players alike should enjoy the true surface in Bengaluru. However, quick bowlers Oshane Thomas and Varun Aaron might have a tough time, and Shreyas Gopal should feel at home. However, they can’t afford leaking runs through sloppy fielding as they did against Sunrisers at home, and despite a player-of-the-match performance last match, Jaydev Unadkat’s dependence on cutters could be tested here.
On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore have nothing to lose and will come all guns blazing. They have lost players during crunch situations which have hurt them badly. Virat Kohli & Co will look to play their best cricket and tournament reaches its business end and try and knock off the Rajasthan Royals. The bowling have looked off-colour except in one or two games and they need to come out better. But Navdeep Saini has impressed with his consistent pace and will look to do the same job in the last two games.
Toss Report
Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli has lost the toss and were put to bat first against Rajasthan Royals at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Here is what the captains said,
Virat Kohli
Trying to practice the coin toss before we started, but I’ve lost 10 out of 13 tosses now. This is a ground where pitch will be nice in both innings. Chasing is a bit of an advantage, but if you play good cricket, you have a chance of winning batting first or second. We can max get to 12 points, so for us, it’s about enjoying the last two games. Sometimes the season goes like this, and we need to respect. Me and Parthiv need to set the tone. Pawan Negi comes in because of how many right-handers they have, and Kulwant Khejroliya will play. Shivam Dube misses out.
Steven Smith
Looks a good wicket. Generally a chasing ground here. Not thinking much about the math. Need to play to win, and then see how it pans out. Mahipal Lomror comes in place of Ashton Turner.
Playing XI
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Parthiv Patel(w), Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers, Heinrich Klaasen, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Marcus Stoinis, Pawan Negi, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kulwant Khejroliya, Yuzvendra Chahal
Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane, Liam Livingstone, Sanju Samson(w), Steven Smith(c), Riyan Parag, Stuart Binny, Mahipal Lomror, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Varun Aaron, Oshane Thomas