Ahmedabad, May 22: For reasons not best understood, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and their star player Virat Kohli have never won the Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy even once so far.
RCB have been into the finals, have entered the play-offs, but somehow failed to cross the final hurdle.
Can they do it this time? Their women's team have lifted the Women's Premier League (WPL) trophy this year. So, the Bengaluru boys have a point to prove.
After a lacklustre start to their campaign this year, RCB suddenly regained their confidence, regrouped well and have entered the play-offs.
RCB will take on Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Eliminator of the Indian Premier League 2024 playoffs on Wednesday.
In the IPL playoffs, the Eliminator is played between the sides finishing third and fourth in the points table after their group engagements.
With a win in the Eliminator, the team can proceed to Qualifier 2, where they will meet the loser of Qualifier 1 for a place in the final.
RR finished third in the standings with 17 points and a net run rate of +0.273. They won eight out of their 14 group matches with the last one getting washed out.
Meanwhile, RCB played 14 games this season, winning and losing seven matches each. They finished fourth in the standings with 14 points and an NRR of +0.459.
In the RR v RCB head-to-head, the two teams have played each other 31 times in the IPL with the Royals winning on 13 occasions while the Royal Challengers have been victorious 15 times and three games being abandoned.
In the playoffs, the RR and RCB met twice with both winning a match apiece.
RR v RCB head-to-head: 31
Rajasthan Royals: 13
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 15
Abandoned: 3
Match time: The match starts at 7:30 PM IST (2:00 PM GMT) with the toss taking place half an hour before the match i.e., 7:00 PM (1:30 PM GMT)
Match venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
Live broadcast on television in India: The match will be broadcast live via Star Sports Network.
Live stream in India: The live streaming would be available on JioCinema
Squads:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Faf du Plessis (Captain), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik(wicket-keeper), Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Yash Dayal, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Siraj, Swapnil Singh, Anuj Rawat, Suyash Prabhudessai, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Himanshu Sharma, Mayank Dagar, Alzarri Joseph, Manoj Bhandage, Akash Deep, Saurav Chauhan, Rajan Kumar, Tom Curran.
Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson(Captain and wicket-keeper), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Rovman Powell, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Sandeep Sharma, Avesh Khan, Nandre Burger, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Sen, Shubham Dubey, Keshav Maharaj, Donovan Ferreira, Navdeep Saini, Shimron Hetmyer, Tanush Kotian, Abid Mushtaq, Kunal Singh Rathore.
Considering current form and conditions in Ahmedabad, RCB are expected to post an easy win against RR, who have lost their key player Jos Buttler, who is on a national duty. But since cricket is a game of uncertainty, either team can surprise the other and enter the Second Qualifier. (With IANS support)
