Gujarat Lions vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2016, Match 19 at Rajkot: Virat Kohli and Co.’s likely XI

RCB come straight from a victory over MS Dhoni-led Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) and they will be full of confidence.

It is match No. 19 of the ninth season of Indian Premier League (IPL) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) visit Gujarat Lions‘ den Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot for an interesting Twenty20 (T20) contest. The Gujarat Lions (GL) have been in a terrific form with back to back victories in their first three matches while for RCB, it has more been like a roller-coaster ride winning two and losing two of their four matches. The Lions have been stopped by the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their last match and as RCB come straight from a victory over MS Dhoni-led Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS), they will be full of confidence. Before the match, here is the likely XI with which RCB skipper Virat Kohli might go with. Full cricket scorecard: Gujarat Lions vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, Match 19, IPL 2016 at Rajkot

Top-order: Kohli had to rethink the entire line-up due to the void created by their opener and six-machine Chris Gayle. Gayle, though not much effective with the bat so far in this IPL, has the potential to turn the match around single-handedly and it is quite tough to replace a player who makes his presence felt. While he still remains uncertain for the match, Kohli can stick to his favorite for the last two matches as opener, KL Rahul. As the skipper himself comes out with the young batsman, it makes the opening pair strong. To carry forward the momentum, Kohli will undoubtedly go with AB de Villiers at No. 3. The pair of de Villiers and Kohli has turned out to be one of the strongest in this tournament as they consecutively built up four 50-run partnerships in the last four matches.

Middle-order: The RCB batting seems to be endless, with Shane Watson coming out to bat next. Watson has helped the team with bat and ball ever since his inclusion to the team and is one power hitter in the middle-order upon whom the team will depend a lot. Another player, who has shown maturity in his batting is the ‘Panda’ of RCB, Sarfaraz Khan. The destructive young lad has earlier scored match winning runs lower down the order for his team. Mandeep Singh, who comes out next, has been successful so far in the previous seasons and can contribute to the team’s batting. To complete the batting, experienced Struart Binny comes out to add some last moment runs.

Bowler: The Rajkot pitch is known to favor the spinners and RCB is likely to play on that strength, replacing Harshal Patel with Yuzvendra Chahal. If Chris Gayle plays the match, Kohli will have to replace Tabraiz Shamsi with Varun Aaron. The bowling attack will be led by Kane Richardson whose 3 for 13 in the last match helped the team clinch their second victory. With Watson in a good form with the ball and Stuart Binny as another option alongside Iqbal Abdulla, the RCB bowling looks settled.

Royal Challengers Bangalore likely XI: KL Rahul/ Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Shane Watson, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Stuart Binny, Varun Aaron/ Tabraiz Shamsi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kane Richardson, Iqbal Abdulla.

(Paulami Chakraborty, a singer, dancer, artist, and photographer, loves the madness of cricket and writes about the game. She can be followed on Twitter at @Polotwitts)

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