IPL 2016, RCB vs RPS Playing 11:Probable XI for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rising Pune Supergiants (Confirmed)

It will be a fight between two teams who have struggled to get their campaign going in the VIVO IPL 2016 when the Royal Challengers Bangalore lock horns with the Rising Pune Supergiants at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Saturday. The home side has not been able to make much of an impact in terms of results despite firing with the bat in almost every match. The IPL debutants, RPS, have also been quite mediocre in their first season but, to be fair to them, they been plagued by injuries to some of the biggest names in their team. The stakes will be high for both the teams because a win will certainly increase their chances of staying alive in the race for the playoffs.

Today’s Match Confirmed playing XI:

Rising Pune Supergiants (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane, Usman Khawaja, Saurabh Tiwary, MS Dhoni(w/c), Thisara Perera, George Bailey, Rajat Bhatia, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ashok Dinda, RP Singh, Adam Zampa

Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Lokesh Rahul(w), Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers, Shane Watson, Travis Head, Sachin Baby, Stuart Binny, Parvez Rasool, Chris Jordan, Varun Aaron, Yuzvendra Chahal

Let's take a look at the team which may turn up for the Royal Challengers Bangalore:

Batting

The RCB batting has been all about the deadly duo of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers this season. Kohli and de Villiers have accounted for a total of 753 runs in the 2016 IPL, which forms a major chunk of the runs that their team has scored so far. Another impressive performer for the Challengers has been KL Rahul who has quickly notched up 184 runs with 3 fifties and a brilliant strike rate of 154.62.

Most of the other batsmen have done too well, mainly due to the fact that they have not been able to get enough time out in the middle. Chris Gayle, however, has been a major disappointment for RCB with just 8 runs from 3 innings. Bangalore desperately need the big West Indian to fire in order to improve their performance in the tournament.

All-rounders

There has not been much to show in terms of all-round performances from the Royal Challengers Bangalore players. Only Shane Watson has put up a decent showing so far but more so with the ball rather than the bat. In 7 innings, he has scored just 100 runs at an average of slightly under 17. Other all-rounders like Stuart Binny and Parvez Rasool have not had the best of times and this has only added to RCB's woes.

Bowling

The Bangalore bowling attack has been among the worst this season and has cost the team a number of important matches despite the batsmen having done their job. Their highest wicket-taker this year has been Watson, who has 9 wickets in 7 matches. Apart from him, Kane Richardson has also claimed 7 wickets but has given away too many runs for the captain's liking.

Leggie Yuzvendra Chahal had done quite poorly in the first 2 matches; however, he has recovered a bit in the past couple of matches and his tally of wickets has gone up to 5. Tabraiz Shamsi, the South African chinaman bowler, has also failed to impress after a good start with just 3 wickets from 4 games and an economy of more than 9.

RCB will have to sort out their bowling quickly if they are to have any chance of qualifying for the playoffs in the 2016 IPL.

Probable Playing XI

Chris Gayle, KL Rahul (wk), Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Shane Watson, Sachin Baby, David Wiese, Abu Nechim, Yuzvendra Chahal, Akshay Karnewar, Vikramjeet Malik.

RPS have been quite inconsistent in their first IPL season

Let's take a look at how the Rising Pune Supergiants will line up for the match:

Batting

RPS have depended heavily on Ajinkya Rahane to score the runs for them in their debut IPL season. The right-hander has been in brilliant form so far with 343 runs in 9 innings at an average of 49. The Pune side has suffered badly due to injuries to premier batsmen like Steve Smith, Faf du Plessis and Kevin Pietersen. Skipper MS Dhoni has done moderately well with 173 runs and an average of just under 35.

Left-hander Saurabh Tiwary has picked up his performance since he got promoted up the order. The inclusion of an in-form Usman Khawaja has further bolstered the Supergiants batting line-up. Things are starting to fall into place for Dhoni's team as far as the batting is concerned but they need to tighten up quickly before it gets too late from them.

All-rounders

Among the all-rounders for RPS, Thisara Perera has been the stand-out performer with quite a few wickets and some useful runs down the order. Rajat Bhatia has done quite well with the ball but he has not been too reliable with the bat in hand. Some of the other all-rounders in the squad like Albie Morkel and Irfan Pathan have not played too many matches whereas their prominent overseas all-rounder Mitchell Marsh is out injured.

Bowling

The bowlers have performed quite decently for the Rising Pune Supergiants so far in the 2016 IPL. Perera has been the leading wicket-taker with 8 wickets but has been pretty expensive. Ashok Dinda has made an impact for his team ever since he started playing this season and has picked up 7 wickets in just 4 matches. Bhatia has also been impressive with 6 wickets at a miserly economy rate of just over 6.

Murugan Ashwin had been Pune's star bowler in the initial stages but has not been able to continue with his wicket-taking form in the last few games. Ravichandran Ashwin's poor form this year has also been a cause of concern for his new franchise as he has just 3 wickets in the season. The Indian off-spinner will need to come good for RPS to improve their performance in the matches to follow.

Probable Playing XI

Ajinkya Rahane, Usman Khawaja, Saurabh Tiwary, MS Dhoni (c) (wk), George Bailey, Thisara Perera, Rajat Bhatia, Scott Boland, Ravichandran Ashwin, Murugan Ashwin, Ashok Dinda.