Two teams with contrasting fortunes in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, Kings Punjab (PBKS) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), face off in a crucial match in Ahmedabad on Friday.
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Both the teams started their IPL 2021 campaigns with wins, but after six matches each, KL Rahul's PBKS sit sixth in the points table with four points while Virat Kohli's RCB are second with 10 points.
PBKS, after losing three matches on the trot against Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, and beat Mumbai Indians for their second win of the season. But lost to Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets on Friday to compromise their campaign.
For RCB, the season has been a revelation, with luck also playing a part. They beat defending Rohit Sharma's defending champions MI by two wickets in the season opener, then survived a Delhi charged to win their latest match by one run. In between, they have beaten Hyderabad Kolkata and Rajasthan Royals. Their only defeat, a 69-run thrashing, came against CSK.
Head-to-head: This will be their 27th meeting, and there is very little to separate between the two sides. PBKS lead the head-to-head record 14-12, with either side enjoying league doubles alternate seasons. PBKS beat RCB by 97 runs and eight wickets last season, while RCB won both the matches in 2019, by eight wickets and 17 runs. Before that, Punjab won the bragging rights in 2017, only to suffer a league double next season.
Match and telecast details:
Match: 26th match of IPL 2021 between Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Date: April 3 (Friday), 2021
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
TV Channels: Star Sports Network
Live Streaming: Disney+ Hotstar
Likely XIs:
Punjab Kings: KL Rahul (c & wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Dawid Malan, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Moises Henriques, Chris Jordan, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers (wk), Washington Sundar, Daniel Sams, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj.
Playing XIs in the previous match:
Punjab Kings (vs Kolkata Knight Riders): KL Rahul(c & wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Moises Henriques, Shahrukh Khan, Chris Jordan, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (vs Delhi Capitals): Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers (wk), Washington Sundar, Daniel Sams, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj.
Squads:
Punjab Kings: KL Rahul (c & wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Prabsimran Singh, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Harpreet Brar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Porel, Darshan Nalkande, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Jhye Richardson, Shahrukh Khan, Riley Meredith, Moises Henriques, Jalaj Saxena, Utkarsh Singh, Fabian Allen, Saurabh Kumar.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Pavan Deshpande, Shahbaz Ahmed, MS Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Daniel Sams, Harshal Patel, Glenn Maxwell, Sachin Baby, Rajat Patidar, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Kyle Jamieson, Dan Christian, Suyash Prabhudessai, K S Bharat, Finn Allen.
