IPL 2018, DD vs RCB: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) predicted XI for their game against Delhi Daredevils (DD)

Royal Challengers Bangalore’s campaign this year has been a poor one. They have lost 7 out of the 10 games they’ve played. At the start of the season, it was their bowling that let them down and in the last three games, the batsmen haven’t lived up to expectation.

After scoring only 127 in their game against Chennai Super Kings, RCB failed to chase down 147 against Sunrisers Hyderabad and lost by 5 runs. Now that they have lost 7 games, RCB will have to win all their remaining games to stand a chance to qualify for the playoffs.

Hence, it is an important game for the Virat Kohli-led side as they will look to win and stay in contention for a top 4 spot. Thus, let’s take a look at the probable playing XI for the ‘Men in Red’ for their game against Delhi Daredevils at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi.

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Parthiv Patel has had a good couple of games. In the game against CSK, he top-scored with 53. He then got RCB off to a good start in the last game as well where he struck a 13-ball 20. Hence, on the back of his good form, the Gujarat wicket-keeper should retain his place in the side.

Quinton de Kock missed the last couple of games as he flew back to South Africa to attend a wedding. De Kock hasn’t had a great IPL with the bat (201 runs in 8 innings) but he will most likely slot back in. However, his performance behind the stumps has been excellent and hence will most probably take the gloves in this game.

Virat Kohli has been RCB’s best batsman in this tournament, scoring 396 runs in 10 innings. However, he hasn’t been able to convert his starts in the last few games. But he’s also fallen to a couple of spectacular catches. Kohli will want to put up a good show in a must-win encounter.

Ever since he’s come back from a viral flu, AB de Villiers has struggled. He has scores of 1 and 5 in the last couple of games and has fallen to spinners on both occasions. However, despite those failures, the South African star batsman is RCB’s second highest run-getter this season. And RCB will hope that de Villiers returns to form with a good outing against Delhi Daredevils.

Mandeep Singh has been RCB’s silent performer this season. He’s done quite well at the death and has more often than not helped RCB finish well. Even in the last game, after RCB were five-down, it was Mandeep and Colin de Grandhomme who took the team close. Hence, the Punjab right-hander should continue to play the role of the finisher.

Colin de Grandhomme has been one of the consistent performers for RCB in the last few games. He scored a blistering match-winning 23-run cameo which helped RCB to finish with a flourish against MI. Even in the last game, he scored 33 to take RCB close but failed to get them over the line. The Kiwi all-rounder is also creating chances with the ball and has also been economical. Hence, he will most likely continue to be a part of the starting XI.

Washington Sundar has been one of the biggest disappointments for RCB this season. He’s picked up just 4 wickets in 7 games and has also been quite expensive (he has an economy rate of 9.60 this season). However, with the Moeen Ali experiment failing and Quinton de Kock back, the 18-year-old all-rounder might feature in the XI after he was dropped in the last couple of games.

Tim Southee has added some teeth in RCB’s bowling. He has been really impressive in the three games he’s played. He was the Man of the Match in the game against Mumbai Indians where he took 2/25 and helped RCB defend 167. He didn’t have a great game against CSK with the ball but he contributed with the bat as he scored an unbeaten 36 to push RCB’s score to 127. He then took 3/30 in the last game against SRH. Hence, RCB will hope that the New Zealand pacer continues his good form.

Mohammed Siraj has been impressive this season. After a poor start to the season (where he failed to pick up even one wicket in the first three games), the 24-year-old has taken 7 wickets in the last four games, including a 3-fer in the previous game. Thus, he will most likely be the third seamer of the RCB bowling attack.

Umesh Yadav has been one of the best fast bowlers in this IPL. He’s bowled fast and accurate and has picked up 14 wickets in 10 outings in this year’s IPL. He’s been terrific upfront giving RCB early wickets. Virat Kohli has largely bowled him out before the death as he tends to go for a lot of runs at the back end. His performances in this IPL has also helped him storm his way back in the Indian limited-overs team as well. Thus, he will once again be looking to lead the RCB attack in a do-or-die game against Delhi Daredevils.

Yuzvendra Chahal has been off-colour this year. He’s managed to pick up only 8 wickets in 10 games this season. Chahal has given Kohli some control in the middle-overs (and the powerplay), but his lack of wickets have hurt RCB. Chahal will be hoping he can get back into the wickets and deliver for the ‘Men in Red’ in the upcoming fixtures.