Former India cricketer, Aakash Chopra made a bold prediction ahead of the ninth match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, where Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be hosting the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Eden Gardens Stadium. It will be Kolkata’s first home game since April 28, 2019, as the league saw plenty of changes during the Covid-19 pandemic over the past three editions.
Chopra believes that under the captaincy of Faf du Plessis, RCB will register another dominating win over the Nitish Rana-led Kolkata Knight Riders in their upcoming contest. RCB have a winning momentum as they defeated Mumbai Indians in their campaign opener y 8 wickets. RCB looked in good touch across all departments, whereas KKR failed to make a mark in their previous game against Punjab Kings and eventually faced a defeat.
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In the latest video on his Youtube channel, Aakash Chopra said, “Bangalore will win this match, which means two out of two for Bangalore and it means two out of two losses for Kolkata. Is that going to happen? I don’t know, we shall find out, but I feel that will happen.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae4xozyeFw4
He further added, “My second prediction is that Siraj and Harshal will together pick up three or more wickets. You can add the name of any other fast bowler you want, it will become a total of five wickets. I feel fast bowlers will be more successful than spinners here.”
The pitch at the Eden Gardens Stadium has typically been known for assisting the batters. In T20s, the batters enjoy their time on the field and make the most of the shorter boundaries during the powerplay. Given the two teams’ batting lineup, Chopra opines that the batters will dominate the first six overs and high scores will be witnessed.
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Aakash Chopra elaborated, “More than 90 runs will be scored in the powerplay overs. In the first six overs apiece for both sides, even 105 runs might be scored. There will be decent hit in the initial overs. There will be a little help from the pitch for the fast bowlers but the ball will come very nicely onto the bat. Russell and Maxwell will together hit five or more sixes. Both like hitting sixes and this ground is extremely favorable for hitting sixes.”
