RR vs RCB, the 39th match of Tata IPL 2022, is scheduled to be played at MCA Stadium in Pune from 7:30 PM IST on 26 April 2022.
Team Updates:
Royal Challengers Bangalore have already defeated Rajasthan Royals once in the tournament on the back of an epic knock from Dinesh Karthik. RR dominated the proceedings in the game, but Karthik’s knock took away all the momentum. Nevertheless, RCB cannot rely on Karthik to turn around their fortunes every time, while RR needs to avoid giving away too many freebies in the death overs.
A lot of time has passed since their previous clash, and the two teams have a similar number of wins in the tournament. However, RR sits comfortably at 3rd position with 5 wins in 7 games and a good net run rate. On the other hand, RCB’s heavy defeat against SRH has pushed them onto the 5th position in the table with 5 wins in 8 games and a net run rate of -0.47.
Both teams have a fair chance of making it to the playoffs and can further strengthen their claim by winning the game at MCA Stadium. RR had almost everyone performing for them, with Jos Buttler and Yuzvendra Chahal being the players to hold on to the orange and purple caps, respectively. Meanwhile, RCB has a lot of unanswered questions. Virat Kohli’s slumber is a big worry for them, and Faf du Plessis’s inconsistency at the top is also troubling their efforts. They need both of these veterans to fire in the game against RR.
Predicted Playing XIs:
RR: Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (c&wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Karun Nair, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Obed McCoy, Yuzvendra Chahal
RCB: Faf du Plessis (c), Anuj Rawat/Mahipal Lomror, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suyash Prabhudesai, Shahbaz Ahmed, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Siraj
Best Fantasy XI:
Dinesh Karthik, Jos Buttler (c), Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Glenn Maxwell (vc), Shahbaz Ahmed, Josh Hazlewood, Yuzvendra Chahal, Obed McCoy
Predicted Star Batter:
It will be absurd to not pick Jos Buttler as the batter to watch out for in the RR vs RCB clash. The English batter is in the form of his life, and fans can expect another big-hitting session from Jos, the Boss.
Predicted Star Bowler:
Josh Hazlewood has been extremely good for Royal Challengers Bangalore. He is expected to replicate his success from the previous matches in the RR vs RCB contest.
RR vs RCB Predicted Winner:
Royal Challengers Bangalore are the favourites to win the game and get back to winning ways.
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