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

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.