The 16th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 will be played between the table-toppers Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. RCB is having a dream run in the IPL 2021 so far with three wins in three games. Despite Virat Kohli not firing at the top of the order, the duo of Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers have been decimating the opponents.
Harshal Patel’s emergence as a genuine wicket-taking option has been helping RCB a lot, who will be looking to extend their winning streak on Thursday. On the other hand, RR are no pushovers by any means. Blessed with attacking batsmen such as Jos Buttler and skipper Sanju Samson, the Royals bat deep and they have enough firepower to counter-attack Bangalore’s bowling attack. Although injury concerns have troubled them in IPL 2021, Samson and his men still, look well-balanced on paper.
ALSO READ: Faf du Plessis Teaches Prasidh Krishna A Lesson After Latter’s Sledging
RR will be having a lot of dependency on Chris Morris with the ball, given RR’s inexperienced bowling attack. However, Chetan Sakariya’s impressive performances in IPL 2021 bodes well for the Royals ahead of Thursday’s clash. Although both teams look well-balanced and well-equipped on paper. However, Virat Kohli and his men will need to adjust quickly to the conditions in Mumbai. With both the teams eyeing a crucial win, we should be in for another entertaining game of cricket in IPL 2021.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
Daniel Sams has joined the squad after going through his mandatory quarantine and negative COVID reports. RCB will keep Yuzvendra Chahal for Samson, given that the leggie has managed to scalp RR skipper five times, who averages just 8 against his adversary. Mohammed Siraj has also troubled Samson.
Probable XI: Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers (wk), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
Rajasthan Royals (RR)
Liam Livingstone has left the squad citing bio bubble fatigue. With Ben Stokes out injured and Jofra Archer still unavailable, RR has been left with just five overseas players to pick from. Shreyas Gopal was left out of the last game, but he can be expected to make a comeback citing his record against Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Having said that, Kohli has 400 runs at the Wankhede, while de Villiers has 303.
Probable XI: Jos Buttler, Manan Vohra, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Shivam Dube, David Miller, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Shreyas Gopal/Jaydev Unadkat, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman
Fantasy Suggestion #1:
Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler (vc), Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, David Miller, Glenn Maxwell, Chris Morris, Harshal Patel, Chetan Sakariya, Kyle Jamieson, and Mustafizur Rahman
Fantasy Suggestion #2:
Sanju Samson (c), AB de Villiers, Jos Buttler, Riyan Parag, Virat Kohli (vc), Devdutt Padikkal, Chris Morris, Mohammed Siraj, Chetan Sakariya, Kyle Jamieson, and Mustafizur Rahman
