Crucial game for RCB against GT

BENGALURU: Playing this IPL’s last league stage match, Royal Challengers Bangalore would know what exactly is required of it to qualify for the playoffs, when it faces table-topper Gujarat Titans here on Sunday.

With batting maestro Virat Kohli back at his absolute best and skipper Faf du Plessis leading from the front with 600-plus runs this season, RCB will hope its dazzling opening duo fires in this must-win game.

Besides playing in front of its beloved home crowd that will back it vociferously come Sunday, the other advantage for du Plessis’ side is that it features in the last game of the league round on Sunday evening, by which time RCB would know the outcome of the duel between MI and SRH in Mumbai.

However, it will mean nothing if it loses to defending champion Gujarat Titans, a formidable outfit without an iota of doubt and led admirably by star all-rounder Hardik Pandya throughout the season, the reward of which is a top-two finish in the league stage with a real chance of retaining the title it won in its inaugural season.

While Gujarat Titans lead the pecking order with 18 points after winning nine matches and losing four, RCB is equal with MI, RR on points ahead of its game at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Entering this game, both teams are coming off big wins, GT over Sunrisers Hyderabad by 34 runs and RCB by eight wickets over the 2016 champion by eight wickets after a sparkling hundred by Kohli, his sixth overall across IPL.

RCB would certainly take confidence from the manner in which it chased down a target of 186 in its previous outing against SRH, with both Kohli and du Plessis firing.

The match against GT, however, is going to be a different ball game altogether considering the kind of resources RCB’s opponent possesses and the confidence it carries into its matches.

It will be interesting to see how the trio of Kohli, du Plessis, and Glenn Maxwell go about their tasks against GT.

South African du Plessis, who holds the Orange Cap for scoring the most runs, has so far amassed 631 runs in 13 games. However, RCB’s overreliance on Kohli, du Plessis and Maxwell has been a major cause of concern and if the GT bowlers can make early inroads, the visitor will hold the aces.

Mohammed Siraj has been the RCB standout bowler this season, and in the company of Wayne Parnell, he would again have to shoulder the responsibility of leading the bowling attack.

With the ball, they will be up against the likes of in-form Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia and GT skipper Pandya. Like Kohli, Gill, who is being seen as a successor to the run-machine from Delhi, is also coming off a century, and will look to set the tone against RCB.

Seasoned campaigners such as Mohammed Shami, Rashid Khan and Mohit Sharma make for a very competitive bowling attack for GT, but they will have their task cut out against a team that comprises one of the modern-day greats of the game.

As far as weather is concerned, there are chances of rain, which will not gladden RCB and their fans.