Mumbai: The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will take on the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 16th match of IPL 2021 on Thursday, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. All spotlight will be on Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers again when Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) take on Sanju Samon-led Rajasthan Royals (RR).
Both hard-hitting batters have been the reason behind RCB’s winning streak which has helped them to sit atop of IPL points table. On Thursday, against a weak RR bowling attack missing Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes, they will fire their guns again. However, RCB skipper Virat Kohli will be looking to bat long and get a big score, something that has escaped him in the first three matches. He scored just 33 runs in the first two matches before being dismissed for just five in the third. This will be a good chance for him to bat out and bag some runs.
For RR, the challenge will be big against a stellar RCB batting that starts with the Virta Kohli-Devdutt Padikkal duo and goes on till late. RR's opening has also flopped. Captain Sanju Samson got off to a good start to IPL 2021 with a ton against Punjab Kings but he has since been guilty of throwing his wicket away with thoughtless shots in the subsequent matches. Add to that, their England all-rounder Liam Livingstone has already left the IPL citing bubble fatigue making their overseas options further limited.
"Liam Livingstone has left the squad and has returned to England due to bubble fatigue," a statement from RR read.
Chris Morris and Mustafizur Rahman will lead the bowling attack to keep RCB batting in check. It is an uphill task but one they will have to do if they are to allow their strong batting including Jos Buttler, Samson, Morris and David Miller to make a match of it.
RCB defeated RR comfortably in all their meetings last season, so the Royals would look to ensure that a doesn't occur this year. That means an exciting battle could guarantee on Thursday night at the iconic Wankhede.
PROBABLE XI
RCB: Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar/Daniel Sams/Daniel Christian, AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammad Siraj
RR: Manan Vohra, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (C & WK), Riyan Parag, David Miller, Shivam Dube, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Jaydev Unadkat/Shreyas Gopal, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya
