Big picture
It’s Virat Kohli vs Steven Smith time at IPL 2020. A contest that is sure to dominate sports pages, web pages and social media for the next three months when India tours Australia. However, part of the first double game of this season, Saturday afternoon’s clash in Abu Dhabi between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Rajasthan Royals, promises to be a relatively softer prelude. What is at stake, however, is the number one spot on the points table, a position neither team has been in too often.
Both teams are in their fourth game this season, but the mood is contrasting on both camps: the Royal Challengers are coming off a Super Over victory against the Mumbai Indians; the Royals to a beating at the hands of the Kolkata Knight Riders. For a change, Kohli’s men seem determined on combinations, but they will have to answer a burning question: how much workload is too much for AB de Villiers?
Three nights ago, De Villiers struggled with cramps and dehydration, having batted most of the Royal Challengers innings and then held ground for 20 overs. With an afternoon start in Abu Dhabi, it remains to be seen if head coach Simon Katich and Kohli will want to free him from ground maintenance duties. If you think along those lines, Gurkeerat Singh, who did not hit or pitch in his first and only outing of the season so far against the Mumbai Indians, may have to give way to wicketkeeper Specialist hitter Parthiv Patel.
The Royals fought so hard against the Knight Riders, the first game of the first outside of Sharjah, two nights ago that questions immediately arose about the batting positions of key players. Smith hasn’t done that badly at the top, but that has meant that Robin Uthappa, someone he went big with at auction, has hit in the medium order or in the medium-low order despite having much of his success in the IPL as one of the best. batter. With Sanju Samson settled at No. 3, it could be interesting to see if the team decides to push Uthappa up or rearrange the middle order, with Smith continuing to lead. Despite Rahul Tewatia’s newfound stardom, the lower-middle order seems shaky. Riyan Parag seems lacking in confidence and hitting past No. 5 seems fragile.
But the Royals still have two bag wins, so it’s not all doom and gloom just yet. They collected the Royal Challengers for 70 the only time these two sides met in the United Arab Emirates in 2014. Last year, Shreyas Gopal, the legpinner, scored a hat-trick, including the Kohli and Villiers grounds, for lead his side to an impressive victory. As such, Kohli vs Smith and Kohli vs Jofra Archer, who has been consistently clocking 150 km / h this season, promise a fascinating subplot for the bigger picture. Kohli must be suffering after a slow start to the season, scoring 14, 1 and 3 and must be eager to break the shackles. Can the Royals stop him?
In the news
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Chris Morris seems to be recovering well from his lateral tension, but the Royal Challengers aren’t entirely sure he’s ready yet. They didn’t train on Friday, which means a decision has been made either way. If he plays, he could replace Adam Zampa or Isuru Udana.
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The Royals have no injury concerns to speak of, but they do need to address their lower-order hitting issues. They might consider propping it up by including Manan Vohra or Shashank Singh instead of the out-of-shape Parag. Vohra is a proper first-order hitter, while Singh offers some side effects in addition to his lower-order hitting.
Probably XI
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Devdutt Padikkal, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 AB de Villiers, Gurkeerat Singh / Parthiv Patel, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Chris Morris / Isuru Udana, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Navdeep Saini, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Adam Zampa
Royals of Rajasthan: 1 Jos Buttler (week), 2 Steven Smith (captain), 3 Sanju Samson, 4 Robin Uthappa, 5 Manan Vohra / Riyan Parag, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Shreyas Gopal, 8 Tom Curran, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Ankit rajpoot
Strategy clearance
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It’s not really a punt, because Kohli’s apparent struggle with the leg roll seems to have turned into a problem. In the previous game, she was out of goal against Rahul Chahar. The Royals have two bowlers to unleash: Gopal, who has fired Kohli every time they have faced each other, and Tewatia. Gopal has fired Kohli three times and De Villiers four times. The relatively larger dimensions of the Abu Dhabi terrain should also help Smith carry Gopal as the Royal Challengers look for an intermediate momentum through Kohli and Villiers.
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Seventy-one percent of Royal Challengers’ runs have been scored by the firsts this season. So far, they have not yet been affected by the genuine pace with the new ball. Archer repeatedly sped 150 km / h against the Knight Riders to keep Sunil Narine and Shubman Gill calm. So far, the Royals have only won one wicket in powerplay, so perhaps there is a case for Smith to keep Archer longer, possibly in the bowl three of his four, in the first six overs and that Tom Curran trade the death overs. . So far, Archer has conceded just five over in the five powerplay overs he has thrown.
Statistics that matter
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Aaron Finch is the only starter who hasn’t been fired in the power play so far this season.
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Rajpoot is one step away from 100 T20 scalps.
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Since 2018, Jos Buttler’s strike rate of 157 in the IPL is the highest among all starters who have scored at least 500 runs.
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In the last ten Royal Challengers victories, de Villiers has eight half centuries. He was undefeated in five of those.
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