By Bharath Ramaraj
Overview
We have seen Royal Challengers Bangalore starting an IPL season with hope, only for the ship to then capsize over the course of the tournament. The Bangalore franchise has had an inconsistent start to this season as well – they thrashed Mumbai Indians at home, but slipped to an embarrassing loss against Kolkata Knight Riders. Can Bangalore put on a good show and get back to winning ways when they take on Lucknow Super Giants at home? Will they find some momentum during the rest of the tournament?
In order to get back on the right track, Bangalore need to tighten a few screws in the engine room. The one major area of concern is death-overs bowling. Even when Bangalore tasted success in the opening encounter, Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel and Akash Deep combined to give away 60 runs in the last four overs. In Bangalore’s very next game, when Shardul Thakur played a breezy knock, Kolkata Knight Riders added 57 runs from the final four overs. It feels as if opposition teams are picking Harshal’s variations, especially the loopy slower one. Siraj too hasn’t been able to strike the right balance between nailing yorkers and banging it short.
A few question marks have been raised about the batting as well. Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis shone brightly with fifties against Mumbai. However, the duo couldn’t carry their form into the second game, and the rest of the batting unit crumbled. The onus would be on the experienced Glenn Maxwell to make an impact after being dismissed for a couple of cheap scores. The think-tank would also be pondering the batters’ lack of success against spin bowling. Incidentally, in their next game, the batting unit would come up against the in-form spin pair of Krunal Pandya and Ravi Bishnoi.
Meanwhile, Lucknow seem to have several of the bases covered. In fact, they seem to have a problem of plenty at the top. With Kyle Mayers in blazing form, he has made the opening slot his own. But Lucknow also have Quinton de Kock – their second-highest run-getter last season – waiting to get his chance. One of the worry lines could be Ayush Badoni’s lack of form. On the bowling front, Mark Wood, their pace spearhead, missed the last game due to flu. Lucknow would be hoping that their battering ram is fit for the important game.
Venue and Time
M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. 7.30 PM
Expected conditions and toss
There was a hint of grass cover and even bounce for the opening game. One can expect similar conditions for Monday’s match. The humidity is predicted to be 35 per cent, so perhaps there wouldn’t be much dew. The team winning the toss looks set to bowl.
Head-to-Head
Bangalore have won both their games against Lucknow in the IPL.
Possible XIs and Impact Player Watch
Bangalore tried Anuj Rawat as the Impact Player in the last match. But when he came out to bat, he perhaps had too much to do, and he fell for just a solitary run. Manoj Bhandage, batting all-rounder, could be an option. Depending on the situation of the match, pace bowler Avinash Singh could also come into the equation. On the other hand, Lucknow could look at K Gowtham as the Impact Player.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis (C), Virat Kohli, Michael Bracewell, Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (WK), David Willey, Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel, Karn Sharma.
Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul(C), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Ayush Badoni, Nicholas Pooran (WK), Amit Mishra, Yash Thakur/Mark Wood, Jaydev Unadkat, Ravi Bishnoi.