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Match 31 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 sees Royal Challengers Bangalore taking on bottom-placed Kings XI Punjab at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
Royal Challengers Bangalore are over the moon at the moment with five wins in seven games. Subsequently, they seem to be on course for a playoff berth, and the manner of their victories should provide more confidence to fans.
Their perennial bowling woes have been alleviated for the time being with Chris Morris and Washington Sundar starring with the ball in recent games. With AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli hitting their straps too, RCB look well-equipped to take on the challenges that lie in the second half of IPL 2020.
In stark contrast to RCB, Kings XI Punjab have been woeful in IPL 2020 with their only win coming against RCB in the early days of the tournament. Since then, KL Rahul and co have suffered five straight losses, which leaves them in a very precarious situation with them having to win all their remaining games in IPL 2020.
With Chris Gayle set to return for them, this could be the boost KXIP need to turn their fortunes around.
KXIP's only win this season was against RCB courtesy of a sparkling KL Rahul ton, meaning that they would ideally want to do the double over RCB, who would be looking for a third consecutive win in IPL 2020.
With some of the best T20 players in AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell and Virat Kohli taking to the field on Thursday, another highly entertaining game beckons between the two sides in Sharjah.
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Squads to choose from
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal, Gurkeerat Singh, Moeen Ali, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Parthiv Patel, Pawan Negi, Shivam Dube, Umesh Yadav, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Aaron Finch, Chris Morris, Dale Steyn, Isuru Udana, Joshua Philippe, Pavan Deshpande, Shahbaz Ahamad, Adam Zampa
Kings XI Punjab
KL Rahul (C), Karun Nair, Mohammed Shami, Nicholas Pooran, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Hardus Viljoen, Darshan Nalkande, Sarfaraz Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Murugan Ashwin, K Gowtham, J Suchith, Glenn Maxwell, Sheldon Cottrell, Deepak Hooda, Ishan Porel, Ravi Bishnoi, James Neesham, Chris Jordan, Tajinder Dhillon, Prabhsimran Singh, Agnivesh Ayachi, Harpreet Brar, Murugan Ashwin
Predicted Playing 11
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers (WK), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Chris Morris, Isuru Udana, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal and Mohammad Siraj
Kings XI Punjab
KL Rahul (C&WK), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Mandeep Singh, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh and Sheldon Cottrell/Chris Jordan
Match Details
Match: Royals Challengers Bangalore vs Kings XI Punjab, Match 31
Date: 15th October 2020, at 7:30 PM IST
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Pitch Report
Although Sharjah is known for its small boundaries, the pitch has slowed down considerably over the last week or so.
Apart from a belligerent AB de Villiers, none of the batsmen in the previous IPL game in Sharjah were able to get going with the spinners ruling the roost in the middle overs.
Both teams would look to make full use of the powerplay restrictions with batting being relatively easier against the new ball.
Though dew is expected to play a part in the second half of the game, both teams would look to bat first and make good use of the batting conditions first up. 170-180 should be par at this venue with the pitch offering grip and turn as the match progresses.
RCB vs KXIP IPL Dream11 Fantasy Suggestions
Fantasy Suggestion #1: KL Rahul, Nicholas Pooran, Mayank Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Chris Morris, Glenn Maxwell, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Navdeep Saini and Arshdeep Singh
Captain: KL Rahul, Vice-Captain: Virat Kohli
Fantasy Suggestion #2: KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Chris Morris, Glenn Maxwell, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Navdeep Saini and Arshdeep Singh
Captain: KL Rahul, Vice-Captain: Chris Morris
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