IPL 2024: RCB looking to turn the tide as tough test awaits at Eden Gardens

When Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders met earlier this season at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, it was the visitors who came off with the win.

RCB’s bowlers were unable to secure the momentum to pose a threat and as a result, the efforts of Virat Kohli, Cameron Green and Dinesh Karthik came to naught.

This time, however, when the two sides clash for the second time in the IPL at Eden Gardens, the scenario is a bit different.

RCB will rediscover their winning ways and end a disappointing phase of five consecutive losses.

KKR, in contrast, has been a picture of consistency with four wins from six outings. However, they will also be keen to get into the win bracket again after being denied in the dying moments by Rajasthan Royals in their last game, at home.

RCB and KKR have faced each other in 33 matches with the latter holding the distinctive edge with 19 wins to the Royal Challengers 14.

For RCB, their bowling continues to be a major concern and whether they stick with the duo of Topley and Ferguson in the XI will certainly be discussed over and over again.

The match has the potential to be a pulsating batting showdown in Kolkata as the surface and the length of the boundaries have been very much in favour of the batters.

The pitch at Eden Gardens has been a featherbed for the batters and it goes without saying that if there is no late change to the surface, plenty of runs are to be scored.

Both the teams have a handful of big names when it comes to batting and this may very well be a gala of runs doing the rounds in Kolkata.

- with inputs from RCB

At A Glance

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Date: Sunday, April, 21

Time: 2:00 pm (UAE)

Squads (from):

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Faf du Plessis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Cameron Green, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh, Saurav Chauhan.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Phil Salt, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Suyash Sharma, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, KS Bharat, Chetan Sakariya, Mitchell Starc, Ramandeep Singh, Angrish Raghuvanshi, Sherfane Rutherford, Manish Pandey, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Dushmantha Chameera, Sakib Hussain

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• IPL 2024