In what will be the battle of royals, Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be taking on each other in the Eliminator of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. The match between the teams is taking place at the Narendra Modi International Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday (22nd May).
The team that loses the game will be eliminated while the winner will advance to the Qualifier 2 to play against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Therefore a lot will be at stake when Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru are up against each other at the biggest stadium in the world.
Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) faced earlier in the IPL 2024 as well. It was a brilliant performance from both the teams as it saw two centuries from two fantastic players Virat Kohli and Jos Buttler but it was Rajasthan who emerged victorious.
The head-to-head record between RR and RCB is pretty balanced. The two teams have met each other in 31 games overall. Out of those games, the Faf du Plessis-led side has won 15 games while 13 belong to Rajasthan Royals whereas three games also have ended in no result.
Rajasthan Royals would be gutted with the way they performed in the last few games. They lost 4 games on the trot and it saw them missing out on a place in Qualifier 1. However, on the other end, Royal Challengers Bengaluru has been on the rampage as they have won 6 consecutive games and booked a place in playoffs.
Both teams will be without some key players in the team. While Rajasthan Royals will be missing Jos Buttler, RCB will be without Will Jacks and Reece Topley. The English players have left IPL due to international duties and it leaves a massive void in the team’s lineup.
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Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and opted to bat first in the game against RCB. He said that the game will be all about mindset and they need to focus on what is happening on the current day.
“Would like to bowl first looking at the conditions and the wicket. There was dew last night. It’s all about the mindset. Really excited to come and play in this fabulous stadium. Great energy here. Looking at what has cricket taught us. When you have bad days, need to have the character and confidence. That has been the challenging part – fitness and injuries. Hetty comes back.”
RCB skipper Royal Challengers Bengaluru Faf du Plessis on the other hand wanted to field as well. He said that they want to focus on skills and play the game positively.
“Would’ve done the same. Watching the game last night, there was assistance for the seam bowlers early on. This looks on the drier side with some fake grass on top. We’ve had that mindset right through. Focussing on your own skills, being true to the way you want to play. Last game against CSK was an unbelievable one. Less is more. People think when you get to the knockout stages, you need to be Superman. It’s just showing the boys that you trust them. Same team.”
RR vs RCB: Impact Players
RR: Nandre Burger, Shimron Hetmyer, S Dubey, Donovan Ferreira, Tanush Kotian
RCB: Anuj Rawat, Suyash Prabhudessai, Swapnil Singh, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Himanshu Sharma
RR vs RCB: Playing XIs
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Rovman Powell, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Rajat Patidar, Cameron Green, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik(w), Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Yash Dayal, Mohammed Siraj, Lockie Ferguson