The only undefeated team in 2021-RCB take on RR in the 16th match of this season.
The Big Picture
RCB have gone from strength to strength this season. They started their campaign with a last-ball win against Mumbai followed by an excellent bowling performance against Hyderabad to win the second and demolished Kolkata in the third. RCB surely are favourites for today's match. On the other hand, the Royals began their campaign by narrowly losing their first game against Punjab followed by a scintillating run chase against Delhi but lost their third against Chennai by a huge margin. RR has some serious concerns when it comes to team combination; especially after B Stokes’s injury & J Archer's unavailability. The familiarity of the Mumbai pitch is the only major positive for RR in this match.
Head to Head
The overall Head to Head is even with RR and RCB winning 10 matches each. If we look at the last 4 games between these two teams; RCB have won 3 games whereas the 4th game was washed out resulting in no result. This means RCB are not only favourites because of their performance in this year’s tournament but the results of 2019 & 2020 also favours V Kohli’s team heavily.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
RCB has everything going for them this year, while the batsman has managed to score at a good strike rate the bowlers have been able to keep the opposition batsmen under check. They not only are undefeated but they also have an excellent NRR which could be helpful towards the end of the league stage if things don’t go well for them in future. H Patel and Jamieson are amongst the top 10 wicket-takers this year whereas Maxwell and AB de Villiers are amongst the top 5 run-scorers this year. Imagine V Kohli too starts firing like usual, it could be doom for the opposition bowlers.
Rajasthan Royals
RR is a side that has the potential to threaten any side in IPL but they lack consistency. J Buttler, Samson, Miller & Morris all are match-winners but they need to perform consistently to have any chance of finishing in the top four this year. L Livingstone’s departure too could affect them adversely if either Buttler or Miller gets injured. This side needs to win as many matches as possible while all their top players are fit and playing.
Pitch Conditions and Toss
The Mumbai pitch is tailor-made for batsmen. The likes of AB de Villiers, Maxwell can create havoc in here if they manage to stay on the crease for a couple of overs. RCB have won two matches batting first and one match batting second but they barely scraped through against Mumbai hence based on the current form if they win the toss they should opt to bat first. So far in this tournament, RR hasn’t got an opportunity to bat first but can decide to do so in this match if they win the toss. If the toss winning teams takes the call based purely on the due factor then both teams might select to bowl first.
Probable Playing XI
Royal Challengers Bangalore: V Kohli (C), D Padikkal, AB de Villiers (WK), G Maxwell, W Sundar, K Jamieson, S Ahmed, H Patel, M Siraj, Y Chahal and R Patidar.
Rajasthan Royals: S Samson (C) (WK), J Buttler, M Vohra/Y Jaiswal, S Dube, D Miller, R Parag, R Tewatia, C Morris, J Unadkat, C Sakariya and M Rahman.
Match Details
Match No 16 Indian Premier League
Match: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Rajasthan Royals
Date & Time: 22nd April 2021, Thursday 7:30 PM IST
Pivotal Players
Royal Challengers Bangalore: V Kohli, D Padikkal and H Patel
Rajasthan Royals: S Samson, J Buttler and D Miller
Clean Hitters
Royal Challengers Bangalore: AB de Villiers & G Maxwell
Rajasthan Royals: J Buttler & R Parag
Death Over Bowlers
Royal Challengers Bangalore: H Patel & K Jamieson
Rajasthan Royals: J Unadkat & C Morris
Most Runs in IPL 2021
Royal Challengers Bangalore: G Maxwell (176) and AB de Villiers (125)
Rajasthan Royals: S Samson (124) and J Buttler (76)
Top Wicket-Takers in IPL 2021
Royal Challengers Bangalore: H Patel (9) and K Jamieson (5)
Rajasthan Royals: C Sakariya (6) and C Morris (5)
Player Suggestions:
RCB vs RR Dream11 Wicketkeepers: S Samson, AB de Villiers & J Buttler
RCB vs RR Dream11 Batsmen: V Kohli, R Parag & R Patidar
RCB vs RR Dream11 All-Rounders: C Morris, G Maxwell
RCB vs RR Dream11 Bowlers: K Jamieson, H Patel & Sakariya
RCB vs RR Dream11 Captain Option: AB de Villiers & S Samson
RCB vs RR Dream11 Vice-Captain Option: G Maxwell and C Morris
Fantasy League Disclaimer
All our selections are based on in-depth and astute analysis of the players partaking in the match, pitch report and a perusal of other reasoning. Please incorporate a slew of factors while crafting your own side with this article serving as a guide to the match and players. Pictures used in this post are the courtesy of the respective official Instagram handles of teams and players and are for representational purposes.