The dew factor will go out of the window but the searing heat will be an issue when Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will be locking horns with the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the first of the 10 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 double-headers on Saturday. Having played their first two games at Sharjah, the smallest of the three venues, the Royals failed to execute their strategy against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Dubai.
The ground here too is on the bigger side and the Royals’ experience of playing in Dubai will help them make better strategies against RCB. The latter will also be making their first appearance at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium. With the batsmen unable to hit through the line as consistently, the Royals failed to chase 175 against KKR on Wednesday. Since they have a settled overseas players’ combination, RR might be looking to make one change of replacing pacer Ankit Rajpoot with Varun Aaron, who is yet to get a game.
RR has benched young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal after Jos Buttler made a comeback. With the top three picking themselves, the stylish southpaw can only play in the middle order. Both Royals and the RCB go into Saturday’s afternoon match with two wins in three games.
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Neither team has played at Abu Dhabi, but the three games played in similar Dubai which will provide an edge for RCB. Both Virat Kohli and Smith will consider the advantage of applying scoreboard pressure in the afternoon game. For RCB, AB de Villiers will now have to keep wickets and face heat from the likes of Jofra Archer at the harshest time of the day.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
Chris Morris only batted against throw-downs at the RCB nets on Thursday evening, which means the all-rounder is still working his way back to full fitness and may not yet be ready for this match. Isuru Udana and Adam Zampa should keep their places.
Probable XI: Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (wk), Shivam Dube, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Isuru Udana, Washington Sundar, Adam Zampa, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal
Rajasthan Royals (RR)
Yashasvi Jaiswal, dropped after one game against CSK, could be expected to get a recall in place of a patchy Robin Uthappa. That’ll give the Royals an additional southpaw to counter the two wrist spinners but could make him a target for Washington Sundar in the PowerPlay. Alternatively, the Royals could also get Manan Vohra to open and allow one of Buttler or Smith to add heft to a flaky middle-order.
Probable XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler (wk), Sanju Samson, Steve Smith (c), Rahul Tewatia, Riyan Parag, Tom Curran, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Ankit Rajpoot, Jaydev Unadkat
