Qualifier 1, Bangalore: Preview
The question before Gujarat Lions as they take on the power of Royal Challengers Bangalore is how do you stop Virat Kohli? Kohli is in the form of his life and has got more runs than any batsman in the history of the IPL. Already, he has got over 900 runs in the IPL 2016, and at this rate, he should be able to complete 1000 runs in a single IPL season in tomorrow’s match.
Kohli’s form has been almost Bradman-like. He has made 109, 75*, 113 and 54* in his last four innings. Gujarat Lions would dearly like to forget the last time they faced Kohli and his time. That was only two weeks ago, when Kohli and the equally dangerous AB de Villiers ran riot against the Gujarat Lions bowling, with both getting a hundred plus score.
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Gujarat Lions went on to lose that match by 144 runs, the greatest defeat in the history of the IPL. They have done well to recover from that since then to finish on top of the IPL standings. But it’s not going to be easy as they take on the side they fear the most, RCB.
Indeed, it is unusual for a team that has topped the league standings to start as an underdog in a playoff, but that’s what Gujarat Lions are. Surprisingly, the Lions have the second worst net run rate in the tournament. The reason for that is that whenever they have lost, they have lost big.
RCB would want to hand out a similarly big defeat to the Lions tomorrow. RCB has three of the greatest batsmen in T20 cricket – not just currently, but the greatest in the history of T20s. Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers have completely transformed T20 cricket as we know it today.
It is just extraordinary that all three play for the same side. There has never been anything like this ever in the IPL. What’s more, they are followed by Shane Watson, who is probably one of the most effective IPL stars of all time.
RCB has a special top four and only now, they seem to have got the right bowling combination as well. Yuzvendra Chahal is an exceptional leg spinner and he has been called up by the Indian team for the Zimbabwe tour which will be played soon after the IPL. He leads the RCB attack.
Gujarat Lions will depend heavily on their opening pair of Brendon McCullum and Aaron Finch. They will want them to take apart the very average Royal Challengers bowling attack. They will hope for a decent performance from captain Suresh Raina.
They will hope that their medium pacers led by Dwayne Bravo stand up to the challenge from RCB. It’s certainly not going to be easy for them. But no matter who loses this match, at least they will be given another chance to make it to the final. That’s the great thing about qualifiers.
The Teams
Gujarat Lions: 1 Aaron Finch, 2 Brendon McCullum, 3 Suresh Raina (capt), 4 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 5 Dwayne Smith, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Dwayne Bravo, 8 Eklavya Dwivedi/Ishan Kishan, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Dhawal Kulkarni, 11 Shadab Jakati/Shivil Kaushik/Pravin Tambe
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Virat Kohli (capt), 3 AB de Villiers, 4 KL Rahul (wk), 5 Shane Watson, 6 Stuart Binny, 7 Sachin Baby, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 S Aravind, 10 Iqbal Abdulla/Varun Aaron, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal
Match Conditions
Bangalore is certain to provide a perfect track for batting tomorrow, and we are sure to have a run fest. No rain has been forecast for Tuesday, which is good news.
Watch RCB take on Gujarat Lions in the Qualifier 1 of IPL 2016 tomorrow at 8:00 pm live on Sony Six!
