He may not be captain but the spotlights will be firmly on Virat Kohli even as Faf du Plessis leads Royal Challengers Bangalore out in their IPL 2022 opener against Punjab Kings at the DY Patil Stadium on Sunday. It will be the first time Kohli will not be leading RCB in nearly a decade. (FULL SCHEDULE)
Free of captaincy burden, Virat Kohli will look to rediscover his glorious touch and power RCB to an elusive IPL title. Punjab Kings will nourish similar aspirations under Mayank Agarwal. PBKS will look for a strong start to IPL 2022.
RCB's best performance under Kohli's captaincy was in 2016 when the team emerged runners-up, with the skipper amassing more than 900 runs with four centuries. For Punjab Kings, their best show came in 2014 when they finished second best against Kolkata Knight Riders in the summit clash.
TEAM NEWS
Royal Challengers Bangalore: RCB will miss Australians Glenn Maxwell, Jason Behendorff and Josh Hazlewood in the first game. Maxwell is busy with his wedding while Hazlewood and Behendorff are in Pakistan for the upcoming limited-overs games. Both Hazlewood and Behendorff will be released only after Australia’s tour of Pakistan which ends on April 5.
Punjab Kings: Like RCB, Punjab Kings will also miss a couple of players in their opener. Hard-hitting English batter Jonny Bairstow is currently playing in the ongoing third Test against West Indies. South African pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada arrived late in India on March 25 after his national team commitments against Bangladesh and will serve mandatory three-day isolation before joining his teammates in bio-bubble.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
In all, Royal Challengers Bangalore have met Punjab Kings 28 times in IPL with the latter winning 15 of them. The last time both these teams met was during the UAE leg of IPL 2021 with RCB emerging victorious by six runs in Sharjah.
VENUE AND PITCH
The Punjab Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore match will be played at the DY Patil stadium in Mumbai on March 27 from 7:30 PM IST. DY Patil Stadium pitch is expected to be a batting strip.
SQUADS
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj, Faf du Plessis, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik, Josh Hazlewood, Shahbaz Ahmed, Anuj Rawat, Akash Deep, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Sherfane Rutherford, Jason Behrendorff, Suyash Prabhudesai, Chama Milind, Aneeshwar Gautam, Karn Sharma, David Willey, Luvnith Sisodia, Siddharth Kaul.
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada, Jonny Bairstow, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar, Shahrukh Khan, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Ishan Porel, Liam Livingstone, Odean Smith, Sandeep Sharma, Raj Angad Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Prerak Mankad, Vaibhav Arora, Writtick Chatterjee, Baltej Dhanda, Ansh Patel, Nathan Ellis, Atharva Taide, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Benny Howell.
KEY PLAYERS TO WATCH FOR
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Virat Kohli: Although Kohli has relinquished his captaincy, all eyes will be on the former India captain for runs as he has done before for RCB.
Faf du Plessis: It will be an added responsibility to lead RCB for Faf. He was the second leading run-getter for CSK last season and RCB will definitely expect from him.
Harshal Patel: The Purple Cap winner for Delhi Capitals last season, Harshal Patel can give Faf early wickets.
Punjab Kings
Mayank Agarwal: Mayank has given PBKS flying starts in IPL with his bat before but now will have one more responsibility of leading PBKS.
Shah Rukh Khan: Known for his power-hitting abilities in the middle-order, PBKS will look to Shah Rukh Khan for those extra runs towards the end.
Arshdeep Singh: One of the retained players, Arshdeep Singh will be key to PBKS’ success against RCB with the ball upfront.
WHERE TO WATCH LIVE
The Punjab Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore encounter can be seen live on Star Sports1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 2, Star Sports 2 HD, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 HD Hindi, Star Sports 1 Tamil, Star Sports 1 Telugu, Star Sports 1 Kannada, Star Sports 1 Bangla, Star Sports Select 1 and Star Sports Select 1 HD. Viewers will also able to catch the RCB vs PBKS live streaming on Disney+ Hotstar on their android and apple mobiles and tablets. Time: 7:30 PM IST
