The 10th match of the IPL 2021, which will also be the first match of the double-header, will be played on April 18, 2021, from 3.30 PM IST. It will see Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) taking on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Chennai.
Virat Kohli and co are unbeaten in the two matches they have played thus far, while Eoin Morgan’s boys have lost one game and won one. This will be an opportunity for both teams to get one up against one another.
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Keeping in mind that this will be a day game, which means no dew problem for spinners, on a Chennai pitch that has shown an inclination for being slow and low, Team COC presents the Predicted Playing XIs for the RCB v KKR match.
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE (RCB)
The RCB team has found something special in their playing XI which has enabled them to put up two wins in the first two matches they have played. They defeated MI in the first match of the IPL, while defeated SRH in a match that David Warner’s side should have won.
But Virat Kohli has found the right players for right positions now with Glenn Maxwell taking care of middle overs when spin is king, while AB de Villiers has been designated as the finisher for them.
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Having Kyle Jamieson and Dan Christian in the playing XI, have given Virat Kohli multiple bowling options which he didn’t have in the previous few seasons, and have lengthened the batting lineup as well.
Kohli himself has done well at the start and now with Devdutt Padikkal back in the XI, expect a few more fireworks from the due, especially in this game, which will be a day affair and dew won’t be a problem for either side.
This might mean Kohli might be looking to bring in Adam Zampa for Christian, or even add a genuine batter in Finn Allen and leave out an extra spinner with Maxwell available.
For Kohli, even the spin options are vast with Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, and Yuzvendra Chahal being the specialist ones. The Red army is truly contenders for the IPL 2021 trophy with the players at their disposal.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS (KKR)
For Eoin Morgan, the loss against the Mumbai Indians will still sting, as they had a chance to win their second match in a row and dropped the ball badly with both Andre Russell and Dinesh Karthik finding it hard to get going against MI bowlers.
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They have a formidable top order in Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, and Eoin Morgan, batsmen who can set fear in any bowling attack and have done well previously as well. However, the issue is with the middle order.
Though Shakib Al Hasan, Dinesh Karthik, and Andre Russell are terrific names on paper, Shakib is coming off a lengthy ban, Russell had issues with his form last season as well and Karthik struggled against MI. However, it can be ruled out as an off day, but KKR might expect them to come good with the bat.
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Spin-wise they are golden with Harbhajan and Varun bowling brilliantly and they have Pat Cummins to do the damage in the death over, but Prasidh Krishna has disappointed with his wayward bowling and Morgan has the option to replace him with Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, and Sandeep Warrier.
It is a must-win game for KKR to get some momentum and they might want to rectify their problems at the start itself.
RCB COC Predicted Playing XI:
Virat Kohli (C), Devdutt Padikkal, Shahbaz Ahmed, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Washington Sundar, Dan Christian, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj
KKR COC Predicted Playing XI:
Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (C), Shakib Al Hasan, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Harbhajan Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Shivam Mavi
