RR vs RCB – The second leg of the Indian Premier League 2021 has begun and fans are quite excited about the matches. The fourteenth edition of the Indian Premier League was supposed to be held in India from March to May 2021 but was stopped midway due to the rapid spread of the second wave of the pandemic throughout the country. The second leg of the tournament is now underway in the United Arab Emirates and has begun from the 19th of September, 2021.
The Rajasthan Royals and the Royal Challengers Bangalore shall be facing each other off for the 43rd match of the tournament on Wednesday, the 29th of September, 2021. The match will be held at the Dubai International Stadium and is slated to begin at 07:30 pm of the Indian Standard Time. The match will be available for live streaming on the Star Sports network and the Hotstar app. Fans are allowed in the stadium provided they are vaccinated and have a negative RT-PCR Test valid for no more than 48 hours. Let us have a look at the further details of this.
The Two Teams
This match is quite crucial for both teams. While the Royal Challengers Bangalore is better placed in the points table, the Rajasthan Royals will definitely be trying their best in this match. The Royal Challengers Bangalore are placed third in the rankings table and have 12 points. They have handed the reigning champions, Mumbai Indians a huge defeat recently and thus are quite confident at the moment. The Royal Challengers Bangalore have often been hailed as one of the best teams but they have never been able to win the trophy to date. Given their record this time, all eyes will certainly be on them. The Royal Challengers did not have a good start to the tournament as they lost consecutive matches in the beginning.
On the other hand, the Rajasthan Royals have not been going through as good a time. They have lost successive matches to Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad and would be aiming to make a turnaround. In the last match, none of the batsmen except Sanju Samson, who scored a confident 82, were able to score much. Rajasthan Royals, who are placed fifth in the rankings table, would have some relief if they won this match as they will have 10 points in their kitty. Qualifying to the playoffs would become slightly easier for them. This match would be their last bid to qualify for the remaining berth for the playoffs. Different teams have been vying for this berth, resulting in intense competition. The Royals have to give their best and win the match to qualify for this berth.
RR vs RCB Squad News
Both the teams boast some of the best players in the trade. Among the players representing Royal Challengers Bangalore, many are in good form. Captain Virat Kohli, who is often praised for his superior batting skills, is in very good form and has scored consecutive half-centuries in the last two matches. Glenn Maxwell, who is known for his explosive batting skills also s in good form and hit a thunderous 37 ball 56 in the last match. Among the bowlers, Harshal Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal are in good shape.
Among the other players, the legendary AB de Villiers has not been able to score much till now. Kylie Jamieson might be replaced with Dushmantha Chameera for this match. Among the batsmen from Rajasthan Royals, most apart from captain Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal have been struggling to make a mark. Some of the bowlers have been playing well, including Mustafizur Rahman, Kartik Tyagi and Chetan Sakariya. Kartik Tyagi, who is injured has been replaced by Jaydev Unadkat. Mervin Lewis and Chris Morris have made their returns to the squad as well.
RR vs RCB Probable Playing XIs
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Shahbaz Ahmed, Daniel Christian, Virat Kohli (c), Srikar Bharat (w), Devdutt Padikkal, AB de Villiers, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Glenn Maxwell, Yuzvendra Chahal, Dushmantha Chameera
Rajasthan Royals: Mahipal Lomror, Riyan Parag, Mervin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c, w) Rahul Tewatia, Morris, Chetan Sakariya, Kartik Tyagi/ Jaydev Unadkat, Liam Livingstone, Mustafizur Rahman
Pitch Report
The Dubai International Stadium is known for favouring fast bowlers. However, as the match progresses, the pitch might start favouring batsmen. The two teams have faced each other off for a total of 22 matches. The Royal Challengers Bangalore have won 11 matches while the Rajasthan Royals have won 10 matches. However, the Royal Challengers Bangalore have won three of the last five matches against the Rajasthan Royals. The Rajasthan Royals will certainly be looking to better their tally.
Conclusion
Both are capable teams having world-class players. The stakes of this match are also quite high. One team would try to cement its position while the other would look at trying to qualify for the playoffs. Fans of both teams would be quite excited and this certainly is going to be a good, exciting one.
