Kohli and RCB brace for trial by spin against inconsistent Titans

PreviewRCB are coming off a morale-boosting win against Sunrisers, but they still have a lot to do if they’re to make the playoffs

Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis were all smiles after RCB ended their six-game losing streak, against Sunrisers Hyderabad • AFP/Getty Images

Match details

Gujarat Titans vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Ahmedabad, 3.30pm IST (10am GMT)

Big Picture

Gujarat Titans’ season so far has been a mixed bag. In the last game, against Delhi Capitals, their tactics were questionable: Sandeep Warrier, their best bowler of the day, ended up bowling just three overs, while left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore, coming off 4 for 33 against Punjab Kings, was introduced as late as the 19th over where he was taken for 22 runs.

On Sunday, they will return to their home base and will also hope to get their tactics right, just like they did in their previous afternoon game at the venue. In that match, against Sunrisers Hyderabad, having assessed that the conditions slowed down considerably once the ball got softer, GT brought in legspinner Rashid Khan and left-arm wristspinner Noor Ahmed, and then Mohit Sharma – who bowled 13 cutters out of 24 balls on the day – between overs 7 to 14. Three big wickets fell and only 53 runs were conceded during that phase.

RCB, who have just one left-hand batter in their top seven, can expect a trial by spin. Apart from Rashid and Noor, GT also have the option to introduce Sai Kishore in the powerplay to provide the squeeze upfront against Virat Kohli, who has struck at just 123.57 against spinners as opposed to 161.62 against fast bowlers.

But in Rajat Patidar, RCB have a batter who has not only been in fine form, but has also struck at 225 against spinners this season. RCB are also coming off a confidence-boosting win against Sunrisers, where their spinners Karn Sharma and Swapnil Singh made a significant impact.

GT will also be looking to improve their powerplay game with the bat: their run rate in the phase is just 8.1, the second-lowest among all teams this season. The slow starts from the top three of Wriddhiman Saha, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan has put the middle order – which has several big-hitters – under pressure to make up.

Form Guide

Gujarat Titans LWLWL

Royal Challengers Bangalore WLLLL

Team news and impact player strategy

Gujarat Titans

GT brought Sai Sudharsan in for Sandeep Warrier as the Impact Player in the last match; if they bat first, they are likely to do the opposite. Azmatullah Omarzai has not had great returns with the bat or ball in six matches so far, and with enough bowling options in their side, will they look to slot Kane Williamson in at No. 4?

Gujarat Titans XII: 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 Wriddhiman Saha, 3 Sai Sudharsan 4. Azmatullah Omarzai/ Kane Williamson, 5 David Miller, 6 Shahrukh Khan, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 R Sai Kishore, 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Noor Ahmad, 11 Mohit Sharma, 12 Sandeep Warrier.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

RCB swapped in left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh as the Impact Player for Rajat Patidar in the second half of the game against SRH, and the move paid dividends. Swapnil removed Aiden Markram and the dangerous Heinrich Klaasen in a double-wicket over and gave RCB the upper hand. The visitors are unlikely to change their line-up barring any injury concern.

RCB XII: 1 Virat Kohli, 2 Faf du Plessis (capt), 3 Will Jacks, 4 Rajat Patidar, 5 Cameron Green, 6 Dinesh Karthik, (wk) 7 Mahipal Lomror, 8 Karn Sharma, 9 Swapnil Singh, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Mohammed Siraj, 12 Yash Dayal

In the spotlight

Shubman Gill has not been his consistent best this season: he’s coming into this game with scores of 6, 35 and 8. His slow starts have also hurt GT’s run rate in the powerplay. But with GT returning to their home base, which also happens to be one of Gill’s most favourite places to score, will he be able to get his side off to a strong start? He has an average of over 64, scoring 833 runs in just 16 games, in the IPL at this venue.

Virat Kohli scored a 43-ball 51 against SRH, his third half-century of the season, but it was an innings of two halves. Having raced away to 23 in his first 11 balls, he took 32 deliveries to score the next 28 runs, struggling against left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem as well as the left-arm seam pair of Jaydev Unadkat and Natarajan who bowled an assortment of slower balls. In this year’s IPL, Kohli has struck at 155 with 35 boundaries in the powerplay, but only strikes at 123 in the middle overs hitting just 13 boundaries. GT will look to exploit this by introducing spin early against Kohli, who has a strike rate of under 140 against each of Rashid, Sai Kishore and Noor.

Pitch and conditions

Players will be bracing for a hot afternoon with a peak of 40C.

In the last outing at the venue, GT suffered a massive defeat, folding for 89, which Delhi Capitals then chased down within nine overs.

In the previous afternoon game in Ahmedabad, GT bowlers combined to restrict SRH to 162 for 8, which the hosts then chased down with five balls remaining.

Stats that matter

Rashid has a great record against RCB’s three key batters in T20s. He has dismissed Kohli twice in eight meetings, while Faf du Plessis and Dinesh Karthik have fallen to him three times in nine and eight meetings respectively.
RCB have conceded over 60 in the powerplay in six of their nine games this IPL so far.
While Saha has fallen to Mohammed Siraj three times in six meetings, Gill has a strike rate of 159 against the RCB pacer
Quotes

“I love to play fast bowling as well. I’m a top-order batsman, so I love [playing] both fast bowling and spinners. We have played a lot of domestic cricket on turning surfaces, so I think I have the ability to handle the spinners.”
RCB batter Rajat Patidar on his strong game against spin

Sruthi Ravindranath is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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