IPL 2018, RCB vs CSK: 5 players to watch out for in the match

A clash after three long years

Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings will be locking horns for the first time after a gap of almost three years. Given their performances in the tournament, CSK would be the obvious favourite for the match having won 4 out of 5 times. But a team with the likes of Kohli and ABD can never be underestimated.

CSK would like to clinch the top position in the team standings by winning this match whereas RCB's aim would be to avoid sinking further in the points table by registering a win. Here, we will be talking about the 5 players who are going to be the key for their teams.

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#1 Virat Kohli

RCB's performance will depend a lot on how this batting genius plays in the match

Only the name is enough to instil fear among the opponent bowlers, such is the reputation of Kohli in the cricketing world. He has scored runs irrespective of the opposition, batting conditions or the format for that matter. IPL is no exception. His Current position at no. 2 in the list of the highest run-getters in the IPL history is a testimony to the fact.

Kohli is doing his job just fine this season too, despite his team's poor show. He has 231 runs against his name prior to this match at an impressive average of 57.75.

RCB fans would be looking for another quality performance from their captain.

#2 AB de Villiers

Devilliers was absolutely stunning in his last innings against Delhi

Another big name in the RCB squad who needs no introduction. Cricket fans all across the world prefer to call him 'Mr. 360' given his ability to play shots all along the ground.

In this season, RCB has registered 2 wins and he was the Man of the Match on both occassions thanks to his blistering knocks of 57 and 90*.

M. Chinnaswamy stadium may see another ABD's Special in this match.

#3 Suresh Raina

Raina is in fine touch after returning from a calf injury

'Mr. IPL'- yes, that's what Harsha Bhogle and many others call him. You ask, Why? Well, He holds the record of scoring 300+ runs in all the 10 seasons of IPL. No wonder, he tops the list of highest run-getters in the IPL history.

In this season too, he is likely to get past the 300 mark. In the first two games he played after returning in the yellow jersey, he was not impressive having scored 4 and 14 runs respectively. He was rested for the third game owing to the calf injury. But after that, we have seen Raina doing what he is known for.

His significant knocks of 46 and 54* in the last two games set-up the CSK's innings. His fans would be expecting something similar in this match too.

#4 Shane Watson

Watson has played a crucial role in CSK's winnings this season so far

An attacking top order batsman- yes

A useful medium-pacer- yes

An athletic fielder- yes

Shane Watson has always been instrumental in his IPL team's winnings with his all-round abilities. When his team Rajasthan Royals won the very first edition of this tournament, he was declared as the Player of the tournament. This year, CSK is expecting something similar from him.

Having already registered a century under his name, he has been a delight to watch.

Apart from scoring valuable 184 runs for his side, he has also picked 6 wickets, prior to this match.

#5 Deepak Chahar

Deepak is the new sensation in already star-studded CSK side

Many of us haven't heard a lot about this speedster prior to this IPL, but he has earned quite a reputation after playing only 5 matches for his side. His bowling spells, especially in the last two matches, has been a treat to watch. His bowling figures of 4-1-15-3 from the last match tells us a lot about what he can do to the opponent batsmen.

It will be interesting to see how he bowls against the likes of Virat and ABD in this match.