IPL 2021, RCB vs RR: 3 player battles to watch out for
A confident Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) take on the wobbly Rajasthan Royals (RR) at Wankhede on Thursday (April 22). The two teams have had contrasting fortunes at the IPL 2021 so far, with Bangalore yet to lose a game, while RR have lost two of their three matches.
As far as the head-to-head matchup goes, the two sides have won ten games each in their 23 encounters, while three matches have had no results. RCB won both their matches against RR in the previous edition and will look to keep that record going.
Rajasthan will sorely miss the services of their three foreign players - Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Liam Livingstone. They look a depleted contingent of sorts when it comes to firepower, but there are stars in the side who can steal the game away from RCB.
We take a look at some of the key player battles in today's clash.
#1 Virat Kohli vs Jaydev Unadkat
Virat Kohli is yet to score a fifty this season and that will be weighing on the RCB captain's mind as he walks out to open the innings. Opening with Devdutt Padikkal has worked so far for Bangalore, but Kohli hasn't been able to build on his starts.
Unadkat is the Royals' pace spearhead who has taken three wickets this season. He will look to put Kohli under pressure early on in the innings. The stingy 6.87 economy makes him a tough customer and Kohli will be wary of the threat Unadkat poses.
#2 Sanju Samson vs Yuzvendra Chahal
Chahal has dismissed the RR skipper four times in their duel and the leggie will be hoping to make it a five-time record. Samson has been off-color following that superb century against the Punjab Kings and has 124 runs from three games.
That said, Chahal has not made a good start for RCB this season and has only two wickets from his three outings so far.
#3 AB de Villiers vs Chris Morris
All eyes will be on Royals' Morris as he bowls death overs against his countryman and former RCB teammate AB de Villiers.
De Villiers has been in great nick for RCB and his whirlwind fifty against KKR gives an inkling of what he can do if he settles well into his innings.
The South African has 124 runs from three matches while Morris has five wickets to his name. This will be one cracker of a contest between the two.