Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will take on the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 39th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 at the MCA Stadium in Pune. The Faf du Plessis side witnessed a forgettable outing in their last game against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) after being all out for just 68 and there wasn’t a lot that they could have done with the total.
Anuj Rawat has been inconsistent at the top of the order and they might be tempted to bring in Mahipal Lamror who isn’t a bad option while pushing Virat Kohli to open the innings for RCB. On the other hand, the Rajasthan Royals have two close encounters in their last couple of matches and Jos Buttler has been a complete masterclass at the top of the order.
RR’s bowling seemed to have conceded a plethora of runs in the last couple of matches but a lot will go down into the pitches as well which had been a belter in the last two games for the side. They might consider replacing Obed McCoy with either Navdeep Saini or Kuldeep Sen. The two old rivals have locked horns with each other 26 times in IPL so far and it is RCB that has enjoyed the fair share of success against RR with 13 wins.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
Wanindu Hasaranga has a phenomenal record against Sanju Samson as he has dismissed the batter four times in five innings and will be an obvious plan of attack against the RR skipper. With Anuj Rawat unable to provide momentum in the PowerPlay, RCB could also consider moving Virat Kohli up to open and bring in Mahipal Lomror as a left-handed floater in the middle order.
Probable XI: Faf du Plessis (c), Anuj Rawat/Mahipal Lomror, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suyash Prabhudesai, Shahbaz Ahmed, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Siraj
Rajasthan Royals (RR)
If the left-arm swing of Marcon Jansen was a problem, then RCB will have no respite against RR as they have Trent Boult and Obed McCoy to poke at their opposition’s insecurities. Samson erred tactically in the reverse fixture by not bringing on Chahal into the attack straight when Karthik came out to bat. It may have had to do with Shahbaz Ahmed’s presence at the other end but Karthik has a particularly poor record against leg spinners, particularly against Chahal who has dismissed him thrice.
Probable XI: Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (c&wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Karun Nair, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Obed McCoy, Yuzvendra Chahal
Fantasy XI Suggestion 1:
Jos Buttler (c), Sanju Samson, Anuj Rawat, Faf du Plessis, Suyash Prabhudessai, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Glenn Maxwell, Yuzvendra Chahal (vc), Trent Boult, Wanindu Hasaranga
Fantasy XI Suggestion 2:
Dinesh Karthik, Jos Buttler, Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Glenn Maxwell (vc), Shahbaz Ahmed, Josh Hazlewood, Yuzvendra Chahal, Obed McCoy
