In the 26th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, Punjab Kings (PBKS) will be locking horns with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. RCB is one of the most successful teams of this season having won 5 of their 6 matches. In comparison, Punjab Kings have won 2 out of 6 matches and are ranked number 6 in the points table.
With every match, the difficulty of qualifying for the playoffs is increasing as well. The road is not closed yet, but the problems have been difficult and at the same, this match will be counted against Virat Kohli’s team Royal Challengers Bangalore on 30th April. As PBKS and RCB face-off on Thursday, Here are 3 player battles to watch out for:
#3 AB de Villiers vs Chris Jordan
The premier RCB batsman, AB de Villiers doesn’t have lost his confidence despite not playing international cricket for the past there years and that has been pretty evident in this season. He has scored 204 runs in 5 innings at a phenomenal strike rate of more than 170. and seeing this, Sunil Gavaskar said that he should open.
ALSO READ: Prithvi Shaw Leads The Way For DC’s Comprehensive Win Over KKR
However, there is no hope for ABD opening the batting. However, he will be facing the likes of Chris Jordan, who has played just one match so far but failed to take any wicket as he conceded 24 runs in the 3-over spell. AB de Villiers has yet to play Chris Jordan’s bowling in the T20s.
#2 Glenn Maxwell vs Arshdeep Singh
The fiery batsman, Glenn Maxwell has never played left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh’s bowling in T20 before – which will make the match-up between these two very interesting. While Glenn Maxwell is in form by scoring 223 runs in 5 innings, Arshdeep Singh has taken 7 wickets in 6 matches at an economy rate of around 8 and the most important thing is that he developed a knack of taking ‘big’ wickets. This fight will be interesting.
#1 KL Rahul vs Mohammed Siraj
The PBKS skipper, KL Rahul is well aware of eth difficulties of his team and if the team has to come back, then they will have to play better. So far, he has scored 240 runs in 6 innings, but while the other batsmen of the team are not doing anything special, then the expectations for Rahul increases further.
ALSO READ: Match 26 (PBKS vs RCB) – Fantasy And Probable XI Predictions
To prevent that, RCB will be relying on Mohammad Siraj, who has taken 6 wickets in 6 matches at an economy rate of less than 8. KL Rahul’s bowling record by Mohammed Siraj in T20: 21 runs on 7 balls in an innings including three sixes. Siraj will not forget that and will be eyeing for revenge.
