IPL 2016, RCB vs RPS Playing 11:Probable XI for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rising Pune Supergiants (Confirmed)

RCB have depended a lot on their skipper this season

It will be a fight between two teams who have struggled to get their campaign going in the VIVO IPL 2016 when the Royal Challengers Bangalore lock horns with the Rising Pune Supergiants at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Saturday. The home side has not been able to make much of an impact in terms of results despite firing with the bat in almost every match. The IPL debutants, RPS, have also been quite mediocre in their first season but, to be fair to them, they been plagued by injuries to some of the biggest names in their team. The stakes will be high for both the teams because a win will certainly increase their chances of staying alive in the race for the playoffs.

Today’s Match Confirmed playing XI:

Rising Pune Supergiants (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane, Usman Khawaja, Saurabh Tiwary, MS Dhoni(w/c), Thisara Perera, George Bailey, Rajat Bhatia, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ashok Dinda, RP Singh, Adam Zampa

Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Lokesh Rahul(w), Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers, Shane Watson, Travis Head, Sachin Baby, Stuart Binny, Parvez Rasool, Chris Jordan, Varun Aaron, Yuzvendra Chahal

Let's take a look at the team which may turn up for the Royal Challengers Bangalore:

Batting

The RCB batting has been all about the deadly duo of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers this season. Kohli and de Villiers have accounted for a total of 753 runs in the 2016 IPL, which forms a major chunk of the runs that their team has scored so far. Another impressive performer for the Challengers has been KL Rahul who has quickly notched up 184 runs with 3 fifties and a brilliant strike rate of 154.62.

Most of the other batsmen have done too well, mainly due to the fact that they have not been able to get enough time out in the middle. Chris Gayle, however, has been a major disappointment for RCB with just 8 runs from 3 innings. Bangalore desperately need the big West Indian to fire in order to improve their performance in the tournament.

All-rounders

There has not been much to show in terms of all-round performances from the Royal Challengers Bangalore players. Only Shane Watson has put up a decent showing so far but more so with the ball rather than the bat. In 7 innings, he has scored just 100 runs at an average of slightly under 17. Other all-rounders like Stuart Binny and Parvez Rasool have not had the best of times and this has only added to RCB's woes.

Bowling

The Bangalore bowling attack has been among the worst this season and has cost the team a number of important matches despite the batsmen having done their job. Their highest wicket-taker this year has been Watson, who has 9 wickets in 7 matches. Apart from him, Kane Richardson has also claimed 7 wickets but has given away too many runs for the captain's liking.

Leggie Yuzvendra Chahal had done quite poorly in the first 2 matches; however, he has recovered a bit in the past couple of matches and his tally of wickets has gone up to 5. Tabraiz Shamsi, the South African chinaman bowler, has also failed to impress after a good start with just 3 wickets from 4 games and an economy of more than 9.

RCB will have to sort out their bowling quickly if they are to have any chance of qualifying for the playoffs in the 2016 IPL.

Probable Playing XI

Chris Gayle, KL Rahul (wk), Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Shane Watson, Sachin Baby, David Wiese, Abu Nechim, Yuzvendra Chahal, Akshay Karnewar, Vikramjeet Malik.