On Thursday (15th October) evening, in the 31st match of the IPL 2020, Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are playing against KL Rahul-led Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at Sharjah Cricket Stadium (Sharjah).
In the ongoing IPL 2020, it is the eighth game for both these teams. Royal Challengers Bangalore are currently in the 3rd position in the IPL 2020 points table with 10 points, after winning five matches and suffering two defeats.
In the meantime, Kings XI Punjab are in the last position (8th) in the same points table with just 2 points as they have won only once and suffered defeat in six other matches in this season.
It is their second meeting in the IPL 2020. Their first meeting in this season was during the 6th match of the IPL 2020 at Dubai (24th September 2020), where KXIP beat RCB by 97 runs. Till the date, it was the only victory for KXIP in the IPL 2020.
IPL 2020, Match 31: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kings XI Punjab (RCB vs KXIP) – Toss Report
Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to bat first. RCB have brought an unchanged playing XI for this match.
Kohli said, “We’ll bat first. It looks like a dry surface and got considerably slower the last night. We saw in the second innings there was no dew and it was gripping. RCB means a lot, not many understand that emotion. 200 games for them is unbelievale, I wouldn’t have believed it in 2008.
“It is an honour, they’ve kept me and I have stayed on. When the team wins you look good as a captain. There have been many individuals who have put their hands up even after two losses. It’s only halfway and we have to keep it up. The most important thing is to focus on your own skillset. Even in the biggest ground in the world people score 220. There is no given in cricket and we just want to carry on. We are unchanged.”
KXIP captain KL Rahul confirmed that they made three changes in the playing XI. Chris Gayle, Murugan Ashwin and Deepak Hooda joined in the playing XI as the replacement of injured Mandeep Singh, Prabhsimran Singh and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
Rahul said, “We were looking to bat first as well. Just looking to get a couple of wickets and put pressure on them. We all feel we deserve more than two points. We have played good cricket and have lost a couple of close games. We have come here looking to win this game and be the best team we can. Everybody knows that all games are must wins for us from hereon. It’s not a bad place to be in, we need to bring our A game and do our best.
“Three changes: Mandeep got injured yesterday, and Prabsimran and Mujeeb miss out. Gayle, Hooda and Ashwin come in. We’ll see the batting order after how the first innings goes. Chris coming in gives us a lot of energy.”
IPL 2020, Match 31: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kings XI Punjab (RCB vs KXIP) – Playing XIs
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB): Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers (wk), Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Isuru Udana, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP): Chris Gayle, KL Rahul (C/wk), Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Deepak Hooda, Chris Jordan, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh