M Chinnaswamy Stadium Bengaluru Pitch Report:

Today night match against Punjab Kings is a first opportunity to see if RCB coach and staff have an alternate strategy of playing on this T20 ground. Previous year, for example, saw an average score of 196. RCB got 197 in a final ‘win and qualify’ game and still lost with five balls left. The partnership between Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik on the opening night of IPL 2024 was a reassuring display of available depth.

if there is one venue they wouldn’t mind turning up straight for a match 48 hours after the last one, then this is it. The Chinnaswamy holds no secrets. Or does it?

Cricket Stadium: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru Pitch Report:

The pitch for this match has patchy grass cover that has been characteristic of some recent games played here. It may start slow and can be two-paced before settling down. The venue has seen lotof T20 cricket, notably with the opening leg of the WPL played here. We can expect sixes at the venue. As many as 134 were struck over 7 games here in 2023, one coming every roughly every two overs.

RCB vs PBKS Head to Head:

RCB 14 – 17 PBKS. Punjab Kings have been something of a bogey team for RCB. Even in these last four seasons, when RCB have made three playoff appearances and the PBKS none, Kings have a 5-2 advantage in clashes between the sides.

RCB vs PBKS team strategy:

Virat Kohli has an great IPL record against Arshdeep Singh and will be supposed to win this match for RCB. Harpreet Brar, who has dismissed Kohli twice in this competition, will be his challenge in the middle overs but then it’ll be Faf du Plessis’ turn to make most of his record – [79 off 46, 0 dismissals] against the left-arm spinner.

Probable XI: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Anuj Rawat (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Alzarri Joseph, Mayank Dagar, Karn Sharma, Mohammed Siraj [Impact Sub: Yash Dayal for Dinesh Karthik]

Punjab Kings

Injury/Availability: PBKS also have no injuries to report ahead of their second game.

Tactics & Matchups:

Kagiso Rabada has a positive match-up against RCB’s top players. Kagiso has dismissed Kohli 4 times in all T20s and has accounted for du Plessis and Maxwell 3 times each. On the other side, Jonny Bairstow will look to take down Mohammed Siraj early. He has struck at a SR of 230 against RCB’s pace ace without getting out even once.

Probable XI: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Sam Curran, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Liam Livingstone, Shashank Singh, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar [Impact Sub: Arshdeep Singh for Prabhsimran Singh]

Did you know?

• RCB lost four of the five night matches they played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in IPL 2023
• Faf du Plessis has an excellent record against PBKS. His scores against them since 2019 read: 54, 96, 87, 48, 36, 76, 88, 10 & 84 (last)
• Harshal Patel, who’ll return to the Chinnaswamy Stadium, has a career ER of 11.31 in death overs at this venue.

RCB vs PBKS, IPL 2024, March 25: Teams

Royal Challengers Bengaluru team: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Anuj Rawat(w), Dinesh Karthik, Karn Sharma, Alzarri Joseph, Mayank Dagar, Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal, Akash Deep, Suyash Prabhudessai, Swapnil Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Lockie Ferguson, Mahipal Lomror, Will Jacks, Manoj Bhandage, Saurav Chauhan, Rajan Kumar, Himanshu Sharma, Tom Curran, Reece Topley

Punjab Kings team: Shikhar Dhawan(c), Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Sam Curran, Jitesh Sharma(w), Liam Livingstone, Shashank Singh, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Rilee Rossouw, Tanay Thyagarajan, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Chris Woakes, Rishi Dhawan, Sikandar Raza, Ashutosh Sharma, Atharva Taide, Nathan Ellis, Shivam Singh, Prince Choudhary, Vishwanath Singh