The 27th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 will be played between the Punjab Kings (PBKS) and the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Thursday, April 20. The Punjab Kings have surprised a few with their successful start to the IPL 2023 season. They have three victories in five games, with victories over the likes of the Super Giants and Royals.
Although they are still waiting on Shikhar Dhawan and Liam Livingstone’s fitness, the Kings have enough armor in their roster to beat any team on their day. Royal Challengers Bangalore, meanwhile, come into the game on the back of a tough loss at the hands of the Chennai Super Kings despite a spirited batting performance from the likes of Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell.
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However, the Royal Challengers will start as slight favorites owing to their batting firepower. These two teams have met each other in a total of 30 clashes so far, where Punjab Kings won 17 games while Royal Challengers Bangalore won 13.
Punjab Kings (PBKS)
The fitness concerns of Shikhar Dhawan and Liam Livingstone have created a headache for the management. The duo is likely to be assessed on the eve of the match and if match-fit, both could walk into the XI straightaway. Kagiso Rabada loves it against RCB. He’s picked up 16 wickets in 7 games against them. His record against four of RCB’s batting mainstays would be worrisome for the visiting team as he’s dismissed Kohli and Karthik three times each and du Plessis and Maxwell twice over.
Probable XI: Shikhar Dhawan (C),Prabhsimran Singh, Matthew Short/Liam Livingstone, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Sikandar Raza, Sam Curran, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
Coming off a lengthy Achilles tendinitis injury, Josh Hazlewood joined the RCB squad a couple of games ago – scheduled in the space of 48 hours – but hasn’t been seen bowling at all in the nets. He remains a doubtful starter for this away game. It’s only a small sample size yet, but Virat Kohli strikes at 171.43 against PBKS’ Arshdeep Singh and hasn’t lost his wicket to the left-arm pacer in the IPL.
Probable XI: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Wayne Parnell, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Mohammed Siraj
Fantasy XI Suggestion 1:
Jitesh Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli (c), Faf du Plessis, Shahrukh Khan, Sam Curran (vc), Glenn Maxwell, Sikandar Raza, Wanindu Hasaranga, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh
Fantasy XI Suggestion 2:
Nicholas Pooran, Faf du Plessis (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Shahrukh Khan, Glenn Maxwell, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Wanindu Hasaranga, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh (vc)
