Big picture
Who would have imagined that Virat Kohli vs Steven Smith would become a no-contest midway through IPL 2020? Kohli started slowly but has found his rhythm and is making a difference. Smith, by comparison, has come out of the boil after a promising start, reaching two half centuries in winning causes. There is more to the contest, of course: the Bangalore Royal Challengers are well placed with five wins in eight games, and the Rajasthan Royals are struggling with three wins in eight games.
The Royal Challengers are at the end of a hectic week. By Saturday, they would have played four games in eight days. His previous outing, against the Kings XI Punjab, made headlines for its tactical confusions: The Royal Challengers sent two left-handers, Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube, ahead of Villiers’ AB form to fight on two legs on a slow surface. Kohli agreed that the execution was called off.
Now, the data goes beyond conventional logic. It shows that De Villiers may have become a leg shooter, as he has against bowlers of other varieties, but that is no reason to stop him. If it was M Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi on Thursday, he will have Shreyas Gopal and Rahul Tewatia, or maybe even Mayank Markande, coming to him on Saturday. Since the start of 2019, de Villiers has averaged 52.5 against the leg roll while scoring 135.77. That alone is reason enough to make sure you have plenty of time to prepare, whether you hit first or chase.
The Royals also have questions about his batting order. Are you still opening with Ben Stokes? Or can they do it with their insurance in the middle? What do you do with a Robin Uthappa that fails? Do they bring in a youngster, at a crucial stage, or do they keep their faith in the veteran? How do you balance your bowling to make sure Jofra Archer isn’t the only man standing? There is more. Like the waning returns of Sanju Samson. On Saturday you could answer some of these questions or throw in new ones.
In the news
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The Royals don’t care where they are on the point table. “We’ve been in this situation before and we’ve come back from this, so we’re not panicking about this,” Jofra Archer said. “We know it can be done and I believe in this team to do it. There are victories and we as a team have to go out and get those victories.” Well, the last time they played an afternoon game in Dubai, they carried out a heist courtesy of Riyan Parag and Tewatia.
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Mohammad Siraj had a day off in Sharjah. RCB has tactically strengthened his bowling alley by playing seven options on the smaller field. In Dubai, they may be able to return to Gurkeerat Singh. If they’re willing to look further, they might even hand Shahbaz Ahmed a debut. Off-road bowling spins the left arm Axar Patel-style as well as being a great lower-order hitting option.
Previous meeting
The Royals puffed and puffed 154 after Yuzvendra Chahal hit the brakes with a triple. The Royal Challengers barely broke a sweat as they returned home for eight wickets, with Devdutt Padikkal and Kohli reaching half centuries.
Probably XI
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Devdutt Padikkal, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 AB de Villiers (week), 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Chris Morris, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Isuru Udana, 9 Navdeep Saini, 10 Mohammad Siraj / Shahbaz Ahmed, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal
Royals of Rajasthan: 1 Jos Buttler (week), 2 Ben Stokes, 3 Steven Smith (captain), 4 Sanju Samson, 5 Robin Uthappa / Manan Vohra, 6 Riyan Parag, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Shreyas Gopal / Mayank Markande, 10 Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Kartik Tyagi
Strategy points
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Why fix something that is not broken? Kohli retained Washington for Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran, the two big hitters lefties, on Thursday and backfired. At the first sign of attack, Washington was pulled out of the attack. In all the other games, he has thrown superbly on the power game, conceding just 4.5 runs over. He has also ruled out quality hitters like Rohit Sharma, Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis. Kohli may want to go back to the proven formula, regardless of whether Stokes opens or hits the middle.
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Padikkal likes the rhythm of the ball, but against spin, especially early on, he has tended to lose his form at times while hitting big shots. Meanwhile, Aaron Finch has been out on the road five times this season, the most for a first-order hitter, while only averaging 16.8 against him. Perhaps there is a case for the Royals to give the Royal Challengers a taste of their own medicine and get their bowl of spinners in the first six.
Statistics and trivia
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RCB hasn’t lost a game when they’ve picked up a wicket in powerplay this season.
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After the first ten balls, De Villiers’ strike rate increases from 122 to 224, and he finds the limit once on three balls.
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Shreyas Gopal has struggled in this IPL, but now he faces his favorite team. He has taken 13 wickets against the Royal Challengers, almost double what he has taken against any other team. He also concedes less than six against them. He even has a hat-trick against them.
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Midway through the tournament, Archer is the only bowler to throw 100-point balls. This is more than 50% of the balls he has thrown, the highest for anyone.
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