Royal Challengers Bangalore take on Kings XI Punjab in what promises to be a crucial match for them if they are to qualify for the playoffs. King XI seem to be completely out of reckoning having won just two matches so far in the IPL and languishing in the last position in the IPL tables. RCB rank fourth, but look set to lose the position to either Kolkata Knight Riders or Mumbai Indians, who will be taking on each other tonight.
The Chinnaswamy Stadium at Bangalore has been an unlucky ground for RCB, as only one out of four matches here has been allowed to be completed. Every other match has been washed out due to it being a particularly wet summer season in Bangalore.
Rains look set to ruin tomorrow’s match as well according to the weather department, who have forecast four days of intermittent “thunderstorm/squall accompanied by hailstones”.
Clearly, this is bad news not just for RCB, but also for cricket fans in Bangalore, who have been denied their share of cricket the whole IPL season. In fact, most don’t even bother to go to the stadium, knowing that the matches would anyway be washed out, so ticket sales in Bangalore have been quite disastrous this season of the IPL.
Following their disastrous defeat to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Chepauk in Chennai on Monday, Virat Kohli’s team really need to do something different. They would be aware that they cannot afford to lose any more matches in this IPL if they are to have any chances of finishing in the top 4 and making it to the playoffs.
Following this game, RCB play 3 games in quick succession, against Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals, before playing their very last match against the Delhi Daredevils on May 17th in Bangalore. It is quite clear that Kohli has to get the best out of his team of underperforming stars and get them to win all the remaining matches.
Kings XI Punjab, meanwhile, may as well as quit the tournament because they have been insipid. Top players such as Glen Maxwell and David Miller have shown little interest in the proceedings. Maxwell has been a disaster. It’s hard to imagine that the player who is considered to be the most destructive batsman in the world would turn out to be so ineffective in this year’s IPL.
For RCB, Chris Gayle has underperformed. Gayle has been suffering from a bad back since the World Cup and this has impacted his performance in the IPL as well. AB de Villiers has done well in short bursts, but failed to display the consistency expected of him. Virat Kohli hasn’t done well either.
So despite having three of the best batsmen in limited over cricket, the batting from RCB has been woeful. They have been dependant on someone like the 17-year old Sarfaraz Khan to get them out of several messy situations – which, as they found in the last match against the Chennai Super Kings – was expecting too much from the young man. But weather permitting, RCB should have no trouble beating Kings XI Punjab tomorrow.
Watch Royal Challengers Bangalore take on Kings XI Punjab at 8:00 pm Wednesday, live on Sony Six!
