It is the first double-header in the Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 and it will be Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) who will kickstart the proceedings when they take on Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Match 15 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
RCB kicked off their campaign with a win against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) but lost their second game of the season against Kings XI Punjab. RCB though managed to return to winning ways after they beat Mumbai Indians (MI) in a thrilling Super Over-finish in their third game.
Meanwhile, RR registered two wins in as many games - against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and KXIP. However, KKR denied Steve Smith and Co. a hat-trick of wins, handing them their first loss of the tournament.
RCB made three changes to its playing eleven that helped make it a much more balanced side. Isuru Udana bowled well and will only get more effective as the pitches start slowing up and even though Adam Zampa did not have a good match, he is a world-class bowler and should be persisted with. Gurkeerat Singh adds a bit of depth to the batting lineup as well. We don't think there will be any changes to this team for the next match.
Runs for Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, AB de Villiers, and Shivam Dube will make RCB very confident about their batting. Surprisingly, the only player to really struggle is Virat Kohli. He is struggling and needs a good knock to get him in the groove of things. Don't count him out, though. Shivam Dube coming in late and smashing sixes was something we were very happy to see.
Washington Sundar was successful in the powerplay but whether Kohli uses him against Buttler, Smith, and Samson is debatable. With Yuzvendra Chahal, Isuru Udana, Navdeep Saini, and Adam Zampa, RCB has a very decent bowling lineup.
After two brilliant wins, RR lost its most recent match against KKR very convincingly. Early wickets showed just how top-heavy this lineup is and that a collapse always seems around the corner. We think RR has to make a few changes otherwise it will keep depending on some brilliance from its top-3.
To that extent, Steve Smith and Sanju Samson are in terrific form while Jos Buttler looked in impressive touch too before getting out.
These three are going to score a lot of runs in this edition of the IPL yet. Robin Uthappa and Rian Parag in the middle-order are proving to be weak links in this lineup. Tom Curran has not been too effective with the ball and although he scored 54 in the previous match, his batting is not the reason why he is in the team. RR should bring in David Miller and replace one of Uthappa or Parag for Varun Aaron.
Jofra Archer was just brilliant in the previous match. His match-up with the strong RCB lineup is going to be mouth-watering. Shreyas Gopal is another bowler having a really poor IPL 2020 and could be replaced by Mayank Markande, another leg-spinner.
Weather Forecast
A clear, bright and hot day. It will get better as the sun sets and the temperature is expected to plunge to a low of 28 degrees Celsius from a high of 37 degrees Celsius. No chance of rain whatsoever. The humidity will be around 45 per cent, with a wind speed of 16 km per hour.
Pitch Report
The pitch at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium has been the toughest to bat on in the IPL 2020 season.Spinners have done well here in the past few matches. Seamers also get enough support, especially bowling in the first innings. Moreover, the long boundaries make it hard for batsmen to get cheap runs.
Toss Prediction
This is the first day game of IPL 2020. So, dew won't be a factor. As a result, the captain who wins the toss could choose to bat, as the team batting first won 10 of the first 13 games in IPL 2020.
Stats and Facts
Head to head: Matches Played: 21
Rajasthan Royals: 10
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 8
No Result: 2
Abandoned: 1
Among the current players, Sanju Samson has scored the most runs (207) for RR in their matches against RCB. He has scored two half-centuries in eight innings.
Shreyas Gopal has scalped 12 wickets in just four games versus the Royal Challengers Bangalore. The leg-spinner got a hat-trick against RCB last year.
AB de Villiers is the leading run-getter in RCB vs. RR matches with 417 runs in 13 innings. It is noteworthy that Gopal has dismissed de Villiers in the last four encounters between the two teams.
Yuzvendra Chahal has picked up 11 wickets in nine matches against the Rajasthan Royals and Virat Kohli will expect him to bring the same form in IPL 2020.
In the Royal Challengers' last ten wins, de Villiers has eight half-centuries. He was unbeaten in five of those.
Approaching Milestones:
Virat Kohli needs 70 runs to complete 5500 IPL runs.
AB de Villiers needs 5 catches to complete 100 IPL catches.
Jos Buttler needs 89 runs to complete 1500 IPL runs and requires 116 runs to complete 1000 IPL runs for RR.
Steve Smith requires 84 runs to complete 1000 IPL runs as captain.
Rajpoot is one wicket away from 100 T20 scalps.
Likely XIs:
Likely XIs
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli (capt), AB de Villiers, Gurkeerat Singh/Parthiv Patel, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris/Isuru Udana, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa
Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler (wk), Steven Smith (capt), Sanju Samson, Robin Uthappa, Manan Vohra/Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal, Tom Curran,
Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat, Ankit Rajpoot
Players to Watch Out For:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Yuzvendra Chahal
Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Steven Smith, Sanju Samson, Jofra Archer
Match Odds:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1.8
Rajasthan Royals: 2.00
SantaBanta's Winner Prediction: Royal Challengers Bangalore
IPL 2020 Winner Live Odds
Mumbai Indians - 4.5
Royal Challengers Bangalore - 5.5
Delhi Capitals - 6
Kolkata Knight Riders - 6.5
Rajasthan Royals - 7
Sunrisers Hyderabad - 8
Chennai Super Kings - 10
Kings XI Punjab - 15
Match Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Time: 3.30 PM IST
TV: Star Sports Network
Live Streaming: Disney+ Hotstar VIP
