Is RCB vs KKR the best rivalry in IPL?
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) host Kolkata Knight Riders in the 10th match of IPL 2024 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday.
These two teams share an interesting rivalry, which goes back to the first game ever played in the tournament, at the same venue on April 18, 2008.
That game went down in folklore as being one of the best in this format and cemented the place of the IPL as a household name across the world.
Brendon McCullum's pyrotechnics resulted in KKR putting up a massive total of 222/3 in their allotted 20 overs before bowling RCB out for a mere 83 runs.
Over the years, these two teams, who represent states that boast of some of the finest cricketing culture in the country, have gone on to establish a deep rivalry.
This rivalry has at times matched the one shared by Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings - the two most successful teams in the history of the competition - while even managing to surpass it on the odd occasion.
While RCB have won just fourteen of the 32 games played between these two teams in the past, they will be keen on ensuring those wrongs are corrected on Friday.
KKR, strange though it may seem, have won eighteen of the games in head-to-head encounters with RCB, and this should propel them to try and eke out a positive result in this game as well.
There have been a lot of heated moments in this rivalry
This rivalry has seen a lot of heated moments as well, be it Mohammed Siraj's aggressive send-off to Andre Russell in IPL 2023 or Gautam Gambhir's altercation with Moises Henriques 10 years before that.
Current mentor of the franchise and former captain Gambhir was docked fifteen per cent of his match fee for kicking his chair in another game against RCB, this time in 2016.
Also read: 3 ways in which RCB can stop Andre Russell on Friday
However, the cream of the lot is perhaps taken by the tussle between Virat Kohli and Gambhir in the 2013 edition of the IPL, in which the two almost came to blows and had to be separated by Rajat Bhatia.
Whether it was Chris Gayle's ton against his former franchise KKR after turning up for RCB in the 2011 edition or Chris Lynn flying like a bird to catch AB de Villiers in 2014, this rivalry has also thrown some spectacular performances our way.
While KKR were able to emerge victorious in both games last season, RCB won the sole game they played against each other in the 2022 season. In 2021, however, KKR had again won both fixtures.
The balance may be in the middle when it comes to momentum, but both these teams have provided one with a lot of memories in the past and will continue to do so in the future as well.
As for whether it is the greatest rivalry in the history of the IPL, the spectators know best and will take a call as they deem fit.