Sharjah, Oct 10: It will be a test of Virat Kohli’s tactical acumen against the ice-cool demeanour of Eoin Morgan when perennial underachievers Royal Challengers Bangalore clash with former champions Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL Eliminator here on Monday.
Kohli, who has decided to step down from captaincy after this edition, has led RCB to the finals in 2016 besides reaching the play-offs twice in 2015 and 2020, and he would like to end things on a high in his last hurray as captain. For Morgan, it is about regaining the lost glory for KKR.
On paper, it would be a battle between two evenly-poised teams, but overall, KKR has a slight edge, having won 15 out of 28 matches they played over the years. KKR, on the other hand, scripted a terrific turnaround, finishing fourth with 14 points after winning five of seven games in the UAE leg following a lacklustre performance in the first phase.
Morgan’s men had notched up a massive 86-run win over Rajasthan Royals to seal their play-offs spot and would look to carry the momentum into the Eliminator.
But past records will count for little and it will boil down to winning small moments in the match, something which Kohli and Morgan would know pretty well. Both captains have enough ammunition at their disposal and it will be all about managing the resources.
RCB possess a formidable batting line-up that includes AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell and Devdutt Padikkal aside from Kohli. AB de Villiers has been wasted at number 5 but Srikar Bharat’s emergence has been a big positive. One man who has stood out for RCB is Glenn Maxwell. The Australian power-hitter has 498 runs and has been Kohli’s go to man this season.
In bowling, Harshal Patel has been simply sensational with 30 wickets in 14 games, including a hat-trick against Mumbai Indians. Mohammed Siraj and George Garton too have been impressive, while Yuzvendra Chahal has answered his critics with 16 wickets this season.
KKR’s pace duo of Lockie Ferguson and Shivam Mavi have peaked at the right time, sharing seven wickets in their last match, the spinners led by Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine and Shakib Al Hasan too have been impressive. In batting, Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi and Nitish Rana hold the key.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (C), Navdeep Saini, Glenn Maxwell, Dan Christian, Rajat Patidar, Dushmantha Chameera, Pavan Deshpande, Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Sachin Baby, Wanindu Hasaranga, George Garton, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shahbaz Ahmed, Devdutt Padikkal, Kyle Jamieson, Suyash Prabhudessai, KS Bharat, Tim David, Akash Deep, AB de Villiers.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Eoin Morgan (C), Dinesh Karthik, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Karun Nair, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathy, Shubman Gill, Harbhajan Singh, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Pawan Negi, M Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Dube, Tim Southee, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy, Andre Russel, Ben Cutting, Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Sheldon Jackson, Tim Seifert. (PTI)
