Kolkata are set to face Bengaluru at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on Friday. With veterans Virat Kohli and Andre Russell having set the stage on fire early in the tournament there’s a lot to look forward to win the game. Kolkata have travelled to Bengaluru to play their second group stage game of the Indian Premier League 2024 season.
Gautam Gambhir and co. will be looking to break the home team jinx in this season, having reached Bengaluru with a sensational arsenal of bowlers. Set to be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, KKR will back their veteran stars Sunil Narine and Andre Russell to deliver against the batting might of Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell.
The Indian Premier League 2024 so far
Out of the 9 matches played in the first week of Indian Premier League, all of them have been won by home teams. KKR in their tournament opener against SunRisers Hyderabad narrowly escaped defeat at Eden Gardens and will hope to make things a little more dominant this time around.
The focus will be on the Caribbean duo of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine, who once again turned out to be the hero of the franchise. While Russell played a knock for the ages hitting 64* off just 25 balls, Narine bowled a spell of 4-0-19-1 in a match that aggregated a total of 412 runs.
Faf du Plessis’ Bengaluru on the other hand will look to make the best use of the home advantage. They will also be desperate to see Glenn Maxwell and Rajat Patidar return to form. RCB’s biggest asset might once again be Virat Kohli, who played a brilliant 77-run innings against Punjab Kings and anchored the team to a win. After the game, Kohli said that he was not finished yet and would be looking to ignite that fire once again.
RCB vs KKR: Head-to-Head
Kolkata and Bengaluru have played 32 matches in between them with KKR being slightly ahead by 18-14 margin. But more importantly, while playing at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, KKR fare better than Bengaluru and have won 7 matches out of a total of 11 played between the two sides.
RCB vs KKR: Bengaluru pitch conditions
The pitch at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru was not a run of the mill flat batting track. The pitch was sticky and it was tough for the batters to put away bowlers with ease. If the deck plays the same, KKR are likely to be in a much better position than Bengaluru. KKR’s sensational bowling attack might just turn out to be the point of difference in Bengaluru on Friday evening.
RCB vs KKR: Team news
Both KKR and RCB will be happy with how some of their players showed up. After their loss in the opening game, RCB’s Virat Kohli and Yash Dayal put in truly superstar performances in their match vs Punjab Kings and dragged the game back from a disadvantageous position. On the other hand, KKR will be extremely pleased with their veteran Caribbean duo Sunil Narine and Andre Russell delivering two stellar performances in their epic win against Hyderabad.
Big picture – RCB vs KKR, a fiery rivalry
RCB vs KKR at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. That’s how it all started in 2008, when Brendon McCullum’s unbeaten 158 launched the IPL with a dream start. Over the years, the two teams have been involved in some of the iconic, and ugliest, moments in the tournament’s history.
In 2013, it was an evening of altercations in Bengaluru. It started with Gautam Gambhir having a verbal exchange with Moises Henriques after the two collided as Gambhir was going for a quick single. Later in the game, Gambhir and Virat Kohli had a go at each other, and had to be physically separated by a third Delhi boy, Rajat Bhatia.
Three years later, at the same venue, Yusuf Pathan and Andre Russell gave KKR a come-from-behind win, and Gambhir showed his emotions by kicking a chair in the dugout, an act for which he was fined 15% of his match fee.
The Virat Kohli – Gautam Gambhir faceoff
The Kohli-Gambhir rivalry was re-ignited last season when RCB faced Lucknow Super Giants, who had Gambhir as their mentor. This year, Gambhir is back with KKR in the same role. In between, there was a 49 all out, Russell doing Russell things, and Kuldeep Yadav being left “feeling totally hopeless”. Some of those protagonists will be in action on Friday as well, so be ready for another turbocharged game.
Things got a little heated when Kohli met Gambhir last time in the Indian Premier League 2024. Will the duo avoid each other or will they clash once again? This certainly will be one of the most awaited moments in the IPL this season.
RCB vs KKR: Predicted XIs
RCB Predicted XI: Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat (wk.), Mayank Dagar, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal
Impact Player: Mahipal Lomror
KKR Predicted XI: Phil Salt (wk.), Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy
Impact Player: Suyash Sharma
Fantasy Predicted XI : Anuj Rawat , Philip Salt, Faf Du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer , Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green , Andre Russell, Sunil Narine.
Prediction for the Match
Royal Challengers Bengaluru have come back to winning ways with a spectacular victory against the Kolkata Knight Riders. They were able to chase down the target set by the Punjab Kings and even though the chase became tricky, the batters were able to keep calm under pressure. The team management would be hopeful that the players can keep this form up and deliver in the upcoming game as well.
Kolkata Knight Riders have won the sole game that they have played in this competition. They would be looking to continue their amazing form and deliver another win for the side. Their batters showed their class during the death and their bowlers kept their calm against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Their incredible team spirit was the reason for their success and would be looking to continue that.
On and all one is expected to showcase fierce rivalry when these two teams would battle at Chinnaswamy on 29th March 2024.