Big Clash 2.0 IPL 2022: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Chennai Super Kings

After having a decent winning start in the tournament, Royal Challengers will now take the fields after suffering three defeats on the trot. They have managed to win five out of the ten matches played and are placed in sixth in the points table. Though the team ended up on the losing side in the previous fixture, the most significant positive takeaway from the match was Virat Kohli scoring the first half-century of the season. He will be looking forward to carrying this form in all the upcoming games. Rajat Patidar, too, anchored the innings well with Virat Kohli in the last match and will try to replicate the same. Unlike last season, Skipper Faf du Plessis has been a little inconsistent with his batting, where he was one of the leading run-scorers. He will look to give a solid start to the team as an opener. Their bowling attack has also been doing reasonably well, and if the batting unit can gain consistency, the team looks quite balanced to get back on the winning track.

On the other hand, Chennai Super Kings are placed second last in the points table after grabbing six points from the nine matches played. They will be locking horns with RCB after defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad in their previous clash. They had many positive takeaways from the last game, from Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway partnering 182 runs for the team in the opening stand to Mukesh Choudhary scalping crucial wickets in the absence of Dwayne Bravo. With the team back under the captaincy of MS Dhoni, fans have become quite hopeful to see the franchise winning upcoming games and giving a tough fight to other teams. Their only concern is seamers, who have been a little inconsistent, whereas spinners have performed reasonably well. 

Players to watch out for

Batters: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis

Ruturaj Gaikwad looks in hot form after his previous match in which he smashed 99 off 57 to help CSK win by posting a massive total. He has scored two half-centuries in the last two games and is likely to play a crucial role today. Despite being a little inconsistent this season, Faf du Plessis is the leading run-scorer for RCB. He will be looking for a comeback against his former franchise. 

Bowlers: Wanindu Hasaranga and Mukesh Choudhary

Wanindu Hasaranga is the leading wicket-taker of the franchise and has picked 15 wickets in 10 matches. He has a strike rate of 13.6 and an economy of 8.02, which shows his worth in controlling the flow of runs and taking wickets. On the other hand, Mukesh Choudhary was destructive against SRH, taking a four-wicket haul to win it for CSK. He will play a crucial role in scalping wickets tonight as well.

Stats to keep an eye on

• Both the teams have clashed 29 times in IPL history, and CSK enjoys a comfortable edge with 19 wins while RCB has won just nine times.
• MS Dhoni has hit 46 sixes against RCB, the most by a batter against them.
• Virat Kohli has amassed 949 runs against CSK in the IPL, the most against any opponent.

In their previous game this season, Chennai Super Kings defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by 23 runs to register their first win and gain two points of the season. It will be a contest to witness if Chennai Super Kings will replicate their performance and push Royal Challengers Bangalore more down in the points table.