IPL 2020 | Kings XI Punjab vs Royal Challengers Bangalore - Statistical Preview

Form Guide

Kings XI Punjab - L W L L L 

The side from Punjab played decent cricket in their first match but lost in the Super Over as 40 overs couldn’t differentiate them and Delhi Capitals. Their middle order must be a matter of concern for them as they crumbled like a deck of cards in the last match. Courtesy Mayank Agarwal’s 89, they were able to tie the match, or else they would have registered another collapse in their batting history. Their bowling looks quite sorted with Chris Jordan, who gave away 56 runs in 4 overs, being the only out-of-form bowler. All in all their team looks quite strong on paper, but their key players must click in order for them to register a victory against RCB. 

Royal Challengers Bangalore - W W NR L W 

Looking at the recent form, it doesn't look like the RCB we know, does it? They won their opening match against SRH convincingly and for a change stood on the winning side of the results. Their recent find, Devdutt Padikkal, who scored 56 off 42 balls, gave them a blistering start to set the tone of the innings along with Aaron Finch, who scored 29 off 27 balls. Later, AB de Villiers with his 30-ball 51 pushed the team to a respectable total. Their batting, although a little rusty, seems to be in a good space, but it is their bowling combination that might need tweaking with Umesh Yadav giving away 48 runs in 4 overs. Virat Kohli will be looking to continue their winning run against KXIP without choking at crucial intervals.   

Key Batsmen

Kings XI Punjab - KL Rahul

Despite his partner scoring 89 in the previous match, Rahul is a pick ahead of his state-mate Mayank Agarwal, who almost won them the game against DC. The explosives of Rahul are to no one’s wonder and the way he has played in the recent past, it is just a question of which opposition he will choose to destroy. In the last game as well, he looked in good touch for his 21 off 19 balls, which included one six as well. Hence, the skipper will be the key batsman for KXIP against RCB.  

Royal Challengers Bangalore - Devdutt Padikkal

Debuting in the game against SRH, the youngster didn’t show any signs of nervousness as he tonked the bowlers all over the ground in an absolutely dominating manner. Fifty in the debut game along with tons of runs already scored in the last edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament shows that the youngster is not just a promising talent but has proven that he can score big runs when required. Now that he pretty much seems fixed for the opening spot, he will be the key batsman for RCB against KXIP.  

Key Bowlers

Kings XI Punjab - Mohammad Shami 

This is an extremely easy choice, given the purple patch that Shami has been enjoying in the recent past, along with being the pick of the bowlers in the last match. Shami got 3 wickets for just 15 runs in his quota of 4 overs, which included the wickets of Shreyas Iyer and Shimron Hetmyer. He was lethal upfront with his swing and seam and deadly at the end with his yorkers, not showing any weakness whatsoever. Hence, he has to perform well if KXIP wants to get a win on the board against RCB.   

Royal Challengers Bangalore - Yuzvendra Chahal

Yet another obvious choice comes in the name of Chahal, who was awarded the Man of the Match in the game against SRH, will be key for RCB against KXIP. He turned the last match on its head and picked up crucial wickets of Jonny Bairstow and Manish Pandey, ending up with bowling figures of 3 for just 18 runs. Also, the wickets of UAE seem to give extra purchase to the spinners, giving the leg-spinner confidence to flight his deliveries, without having to worry about short boundaries of Chinnaswamy. Kohli will look to make the most of his ever-reliable leg-spinner.    

Squads:

Kings XI Punjab Squad: Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Karun Nair, Sarfaraz Khan, and Mayank Agarwal, Harpreet Brar, James Neesham, Tajinder Singh, Deepak Hooda, Glenn Maxwell, and Krishnappa Gowtham, KL Rahul (C), Simran Singh, and Nicholas Pooran, Mohammed Shami, Ishan Porel, Chris Jordan, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman, Sheldon Cottrell, Darshan Nalkande, Murugan Ashwin, J Suchith, and Hardus Viljoen.

Royal Challengers Bangalore Squad: Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Parthiv Patel (wk), Aaron Finch, Josh Philippe, Chris Morris, Moeen Ali, Mohammed Siraj, Shahbaz Ahmed, Devdutt Padikkal, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, Dale Steyn, Pawan Negi, Isuru Udana, Shivam Dube, Umesh Yadav, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Washington Sundar, Pavan Deshpande, Adam Zampa

Probable XI :

KXIP: Lokesh Rahul (c & wk), Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Glenn Maxwell, Krishnappa Gowtham, Chris Jordan, Sheldon Cottrell, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi

RCB: Aaron Finch, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (wk), Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Chris Morris, Moeen Ali, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini

Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium

When to Watch: Sep 24, 7.30 PM IST

Where to Watch: Star Sports Network and Hotstar (in India)