IPL 2018: RCB vs KXIP - 5 player battles to look out for

The 8th match of this year’s IPL will be played in Bangalore and it will be between three-time runners-up Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Kings XI Punjab. Both sides have two of the strongest squads in the tournament but have begun their respective campaigns on contrasting notes.

While Kings XI Punjab defeated Delhi Daredevils in their tournament opener, RCB lost to the Kolkata Knight Riders in theirs.

This will be the 19th IPL encounter between the two sides with KXP leading the head-to-head by 10-8. Last season, Kings XI won both their matches against the Royal Challengers. This season, it will be pretty interesting to see who comes out on top as both teams are filled with top-quality cricketers.

The match is bound to be an interesting contest and there will definitely be some interesting player battles to look out for. Here are 5 player battles to watch out for in today’s match between RCB and KXIP.

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#5 Karun Nair vs Yuzvendra Chahal

Karun Nair had a brilliant start to his IPL campaign by smashing a 33-ball 50 against Delhi Daredevils at Mohali. Yuzvendra Chahal, on the other hand, had a forgetful start to his tournament as he conceded 29 runs from three overs against Kolkata Knight Riders at Kolkata.

Either way, both players are integral entities for their team and have been in pretty decent form so far. Nair has averaged 42.9 with the bat in T20s this year so far, and scored T20 centuries at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy against Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand.

This year, Chahal hasn’t been at his consistent best in T20s but produced a couple of fine performances for India, the most notable of them being a spell of 3/18 against Bangladesh at the Nidahas Trophy final.

Expected to come in at No. 3 or 4, a lot of KXIP’s batting hopes will be pinned on Nair, and Chahal will be needed to send him back as early as possible. Besides their talents and abilities, a huge reason why Nair vs Chahal will be watchable will be the fact that both players are well acquainted with the Chinnaswamy pitch.

While Chahal has been a regular for RCB since 2014, Nair has played the entirety of his domestic cricket career at Bangalore while playing for Karnataka.

#4 KL Rahul vs Umesh Yadav

KL Rahul's aggression or Umesh Yadav's Pace. Which will triumph?

Both KL Rahul and Umesh Yadav had brilliant starts to their respective campaigns in the IPL. Rahul, who was bought by Kings XI for a whopping Rs 11 crore, smashed the fastest fifty in IPL history against Delhi Daredevils from just 14 deliveries.

Umesh Yadav’s team could not win their opening match but Yadav personally had a brilliant outing. He took two wickets from his four overs and conceded only 27 runs.

Rahul’s rather surprising knock has definitely made him a player that every IPL team will be wary of. KXIP will be hoping Rahul will give them another fiery start today. However, if there is one bowler who can give Rahul an early exit then that is Umesh Yadav.

The 30-year-old’s line and length against KKR was brilliant. Yadav’s ability to bowl quickly and come up with a late swing makes him a very dangerous bowler and Rahul will definitely do some thinking before facing each and every delivery of his today.

#3 AB de Villiers vs Mujeeb-ur-Rahman

AB de Villiers will be looking to play an equally aggressive but a longer innings than he played against KKR

Afghan spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman had a memorable start to the IPL and became the youngest cricketer to play the IPL. He picked up two wickets from his four overs against Delhi Daredevils and conceded 28 runs.

AB de Villiers made a typical ABD start to the IPL by going after the KKR bowlers from the beginning of his innings. He went on to score 44 from just 23 deliveries before being dismissed. Had de Villiers stayed on for at least another 5-6 overs, RCB could have easily crossed 200.

Both players will be expected to shine in their respective departments. de Villiers would certainly want to elevate RCB’s run-rate with his power-hitting. However, Mujeeb ur Rahman has what it takes to dismiss the South African.

Nevertheless, this will be a player battle worth watching.

#2 Brendon McCullum vs Mohit Sharma

Mohit Sharma (Image Courtesy: BCCI)

Both players played alongside each other when they were at Chennai Super Kings during IPL 2014 and IPL 2015. The purple cap recipient from IPL 2014, Mohit Sharma bowled a pretty decent spell of 2/33 against Delhi Daredevils, dismissing Vijay Shankar and Daniel Christian.

Brendon McCullum gave RCB a pretty good start and scored 43 from just 27 deliveries before being bowled by Sunil Narine.

The New Zealander may have retired from international cricket but he still possesses the killer instinct that made him such a feared batsman. He will be looking to give RCB a powerful start in the powerplay overs.

However, Mohit Sharma will certainly not be holding back and will do whatever it takes to dismiss the former Kiwi skipper as early as possible because if he keeps going, he could be a menace for KXIP.

Hence, this would be another player battle which would be worth watching.

#1 Virat Kohli vs Ravichandran Ashwin

Kohli vs Ashwin will be THE player battle to look out for

Whether it is batsman vs bowler or captain vs captain, Kohli and Ashwin will be a player battle no one would ever want to miss. Both players have immense responsibilities on their shoulders and are talismanic figures for their respective teams.

Ashwin being appointed KXIP captain was a surprise but he had a good start as captain by leading Punjab to victory against Gautam Gambhir’s Delhi Daredevils. Ashwin gave a pretty good performance with the ball as well, conceding only 23 runs from his four overs and dismissing Rahul Tewatia.

Kohli showed what was only glimpses of aggression as he scored 31 from 33 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders. However, a batsman of Kohli’s calibre can never be written off as he can come back with a big knock against Punjab today.

Ashwin is well aware of the fact that Kohli will be the big fish that Kings XI would want to hook, and having played with Kohli throughout his international career, he will be looking to dismiss Kohli himself.

Either way, Kohli vs Ashwin will probably be the most anticipated player battle for today’s game.