Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants have four wins each from six games so far this season, with only net run rate separating them on
the points table. With their closest contenders, the table-topping Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad, not scheduled to be in action until Saturday, this is a chance for both Royal Challengers and Super Giants to shake things up at the top of the table.
Royals Challengers and Super Giants have had contrasting paths, more so on the batting front, in this IPL. Dinesh Karthik’s
finishing skills have carried Royal Challengers’ otherwise shaky batting line-up, with their captain Faf du Plessis even admitting that the top order is yet to fire. As for Super Giants, their openers KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock have clicked together at the top, easing the burden on the middle order. The No.3 spot, in particular, has been a revolving door for Super Giants, with Evin Lewis, Manish Pandey, and K Gowtham all getting look-ins.
The bowling attacks are more or less evenly matched, with the arrivals of Josh Hazlewood and Marcus Stoinis providing more options for Royal Challengers and Super Giants respectively.
Lucknow Super Giants: 1 KL Rahul (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Manish Pandey, 4 Ayush Badoni, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Deepak Hooda, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Jason Holder, 9 Dushmantha Chameera, 10 Avesh Khan, 11 Ravi Bishnoi.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Faf du Plessis (capt), 2 Anuj Rawat, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Suyash Prabhudessai, 6 Shahbaz Ahmed, 7 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Josh Hazlewood.
Karthik has been particularly brutal on any kind of pace – even Mustafizur Rahman’s grippy offcutters weren’t spared. However, he hasn’t been as strong against wristspin, so there is a case for Super Giants to hold back at least an over of Ravi Bishnoi for Karthik.
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