IPL 2021 RCB vs KKR: 5 Players to watch out for
Royal Challengers Bangalore will take on the Kolkata Knight Riders in Match 10 of IPL 2021 on Sunday, April 18, at the M.A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Out of the 27 encounters between these two teams, so far KKR have emerged victorious in 15 matches while RCB have managed to win 12.
Royal Challengers Bangalore are on a high this season, having defeated the Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad in their previous two encounters. They currently sit at the top of the IPL 2021 points table.
Meanwhile, the Kolkata Knight Riders recorded a hard-fought victory against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their opening match of the IPL 2021 season. But they suffered a narrow defeat against the defending champions Mumbai Indians in their previous game.
In anticipation of this mouth-watering contest, we take a look at 5 top players who could make a difference in this game:
#1 Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli has had a decent start to IPL 2021, scoring 66 runs from 2 matches. He looked in fine form against the Sunrisers Hyderabad before getting out while attempting a loose shot. He has amassed 725 runs in IPL matches between Bangalore and Kolkata and will look to add a few more runs to his tally in the upcoming fixture.
#2 Andre Russell
Russell had a poor outing with the bat in the last game against the Mumbai Indians. He was dismissed in the final over by Trent Boult for an agonizing 9 runs off 15 balls.
The West Indies cricketer, who picked up 5 wickets in just 2 overs earlier in the day, failed to hit the boundaries in the last 5 overs, despite being dropped twice. KKR will be hoping for a better performance from him with the bat against Bangalore.
#3 Yuzvendra Chahal
Chahal is the lead spin bowler for RCB and has been instrumental in both their wins this season. He has picked up 14 wickets for Bangalore against Kolkata - the most by any RCB bowler. Chahal's leg-breaks could trouble the KKR batsmen and earn him a few wickets on a spin-friendly Chepauk pitch.
#4 Nitish Rana
Kolkata Knight Riders' Nitish Rana is the top run-scorer of IPL 2021 so far. He has been in rich vein of form this season, having scored 137 runs from 2 innings. Rana will want to carry this momentum into the next game against the Bangalore franchise in this all-important clash.
#5 Shahbaz Ahmed
Ahmed scored 14 off 10 deliveries batting at number 3 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, but his match-defining performance came with the ball. He returned with a match-winning figure of 3/7 from his 2 overs as the Royal Challengers Bangalore defended a low score against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Ahmed would like to replicate this impressive performance in RCB's next IPL 2021 game against KKR on Sunday.