GL vs RCB Playing 11: Today's Probable XI for Gujarat Lions and Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2016 Qualifier 1

The VIVO IPL 2016 enters its playoff stage as Gujarat Lions take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in the first qualifier at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. It has been an incredible debut season for the Lions as they have gone from strength to strength and entered the playoffs courtesy of being the top team on the points table.

The Challengers, on the other hand, have battled hard after a dismal initial phase and hammered their way into the playoff stage thanks largely to a staggering performance from their skipper Virat Kohli. Gujarat have got almost everything right this season with both their batsmen and bowlers doing equally well. Bangalore, though, have relied more on their batting and the bowling has only come good in the last few matches. The stakes are higher than ever for the two teams on Tuesday despite the fact that none of them will get eliminated even after losing the match.

Here’s the line-up that Gujarat Lions may have for the match:

Batting

Skipper Suresh Raina has not been as prolific as he has been in previous seasons. However, he seems to be clicking at the right time with a couple of match-winnings he gifted towards the fag end of the league phase.

The southpaw has not allowed captaincy to overshadow his batting prowess and has been Gujarat’s leading run-scorer with 397 runs in 13 innings including 3 half-centuries. Australian opening batsman Aaron Finch has also been prolific in the 10 innings that he has played so far, scoring 339 runs at an average of slightly over 42.

Brendon McCullum has shown usual flashes of brilliance and has a tally of 321 runs in the tournament. His opening partner, Dwayne Smith, has been effective, too, with 250 runs in 10 innings at an impressive strike rate of 141.24. Wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik has also played responsibly in the middle-order and already has 283 runs in his kitty with 3 scored of 50 and above.

All-rounders

Smith has played the all-rounder’s role to great effect for GL, especially in recent matches. The West Indian has backed up his fluent batting with 7 wickets in the tournament including best figures of 4 for 8 in a match-winning bowling performance against KKR. Ravindra Jadeja, too, has done a pretty decent job as he has scored 169 runs and claimed 6 wickets in the 2016 IPL. Dwayne Bravo has been consistent with the ball but hasn’t made an impression with the bat.

Bowling

Bravo has been the leading wicket-taker for the Lions with 15 wickets from 13 games with a 4-wicket haul against his name. Fast bowler Dhawal Kulkarni has also been highly consistent for his team and has managed to grab 14 wickets at an impressive economy rate of under 8. Praveen Kumar has picked up his performance in the last few matches and has a tally of 9 wickets.

Jadeja has been the leader of the pack among the Gujarat spinners with 6 wickets whereas leggie Pravin Tambe has claimed 5 wickets in the 7 matches he played. Chinaman bowler Shivil Kaushik, who has been in the news for his strange action, also did a decent job in the few matches he got by picking up 4 wickets.

Probable Playing XI

Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina (c), Aaron Finch, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Eklavya Dwivedi, Dwayne Bravo, Praveen Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Shadab Jakati.

Kohli looks like a man on a mission at the moment

Let’s take a look at the likely team that may play for Royal Challengers Bangalore:

Batting

RCB skipper Virat Kohli has been a dominant force in the 9th edition of the IPL and has created many new batting records. Kohli has a monstrous tally of 919 runs this year, the most by any batsman in a single IPL season, and a record 4 centuries in 14 matches. AB de Villiers has also been on quite a roll this season with more than 600 runs at an average of over 50 and a blazing strike rate of 170-plus.

One of the unsung heroes with the bat for Bangalore has been their wicket-keeper batsman, KL Rahul. The right-hander has scored close to 400 runs at a fabulous average of 55.14 and a strike rate of nearly 148. Chris Gayle had been struggling for form in his first few matches but has played a couple of breezy knocks in his last three innings. The rest of the batsmen haven’t had enough chances to prove their mettle so far.

All-rounders

Shane Watson has played the all-rounder’s role for Royal Challengers Bangalore quite effectively in his first season for them. The Australian has scored some quick runs for his team late in the innings and has been among their top wicket-takers in the current IPL. Stuart Binny has played quite a few matches for RCB this year but has not enjoyed much success in either department.

Bowling

The bowling attack has not exactly been Bangalore’s strength in the 2016 IPL; however, the bowlers have started to come good for them in recent games. Yuzvendra Chahal, the leg-spinner, has bowled quite brilliantly and been the overall leading wicket-taker this season with 19 wickets. Chahal has been rewarded for his efforts with a spot in the Indian team for the tour to Zimbabwe. Watson has also bowled well, chipping in with 16 wickets in the season at an economy rate of just over 8.

Pacer Sreenath Aravind has been pretty effective and claimed 9 wickets in 7 matches conceding his runs at under 8 per over. Chris Jordan has also had a decent first season for RCB with 6 wickets in 7 matches including best figures of 4 for 11. Most of the other bowlers that the Challengers have tried in the current season have failed to build an impression.

Probable Playing XI

Virat Kohli (c), Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, KL Rahul (wk), Shane Watson, Stuart Binny, Sachin Baby, Sreenath Aravind, Yuzvendra Chahal, Chris Jordan, Iqbal Abdulla.