Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg stated that Faf du Plessis’ poor strike rate in the powerplay puts pressure on Virat Kohli to score quickly. The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain, despite being one of the top scorers in the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, only has a strike rate of 104 in the first six overs as well.

While stating that the LSG pace bowlers can take advantage of this predicament, Hogg said on his YouTube channel: “Du Plessis strikes at 104 in the powerplay and that puts Kohli under pressure at the other end, who has just found his touch but is not at his best yet. So, Chameera and Avesh Khan can capitalise on this by consistently bowling at the top of off and make them play shots they don’t want to. LSG do not want Maxwell facing Bishnoi and Pandya in the middle overs, because he dominates spin.”

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However, they put up a 115-run stand in their must-win encounter against Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Wankhede Stadium. Du Plessis played the anchor’s role in the run chase and ended with a strike rate of 115.79 as well. Meanwhile, Hogg backed RCB to put LSG under pressure as well.

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“LSG don’t handle pressure situations well. If RCB win the toss, they will ask Lucknow to chase. The powerplay phase will be crucial in this contest. KL Rahul has got to lift his strike rate in the powerplay, it is not good enough. It puts too much pressure on the rest of the batting unit. You also cannot allow Maxwell to have an economy of 5 or less in the powerplay. LSG are dominant in the death overs with the bat while RCB are the worst bowling attack in that phase. LSG could turn a 160 score into 190 if they capitalize on a good start,” Brad Hogg concluded.

LSG will face RCB in the IPL 2022 Eliminator at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday, May 25.