With momentum on their side, RCB, SRH set to battle for supremacy

The Brabourne Stadium doesn’t reveal a majestic look. It is quaint, calmer than usual and despite being just a few meters away from the Wankhede Stadium, it has a completely different aura. The moment you step onto the stands, a gentle breeze from the Marine Drive would hit you before it calms you. The quieter and open deck of East Stand stands in perfect contradiction with the buzzing angle of the venue to bring a different kind of solace to its simpleton design but more importantly, it drives home the point of how the IPL has embraced its local authenticity in varied terms to create a culture of its own. 

At the same time, nothing probably personified the image of David Warner and Prithvi Shaw caressing the Punjab bowlers at ease, Andre Russell launching on the opposition like a hungry Tiger in the wild Safari, or even Jos Buttler making sure teams think twice before bidding big for Pat Cummins at the auction. Every move has materialized in the straighter lines at the Brabourne unless you are a pacer trying to win a game of cricket for your team. If it is the latter, then Brabourne is not for you. 

It is the basic truism that both Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad would keep in mind ahead of their clash on Saturday. Sitting comfortably at the second and fifth respectively, both sides know that momentum is a big thing in sports and a slight bit of slip would cost them big time in the mid-season rankings. 

How and why does it matter? Royal Challengers Bangalore understand that they finally have a squad capable of delivering the elusive title that has evaded them for the past 14 years. Right from striking the balance in the middle-order to having a much-improved and deadly version of Dinesh Karthik marshaling the death over batting, it has been a dream run for them. Add to that the zing of Josh Hazlewood and Harshal Patel, face the music at your own peril.

On the other hand, after starting the tournament with two back-to-back losses, Sunrisers Hyderabad have won the next four in a comprehensive fashion. Their batting failed to fire in unison and their captain’s contribution has been non-existent but they have shown how playing percentage cricket can take you far. Their ability to slip under the radar yet win matches from difficult situations has been underplayed for a long time and don’t be surprised if they do the same thing to make it five in five.

RCB need to be wary of SRH’s middle-over consistency

Even though Abhishek Sharma and Kane Williamson have failed to fire for Sunrisers Hyderabad consistently, they have a certain Rahul Tripathi as well as Aiden Markram to shift the momentum in the middle-overs. Since his three-ball duck in his first game of the season against Rajasthan in Pune, Tripathi followed it up with five impactful knocks and has been the most consistent batter for the side. His impact in the middle-overs, in which he scored 141 runs at a strike rate of 181, ensured that SRH had a base to exploit later. 

He has been ably supported by Aiden Markram, who has held his own to add new chapters to his growing evolution as a T20 batter. He has been exceptional against pacers as he is yet to be dismissed after scoring 109 runs at an SR of 195. Tripathi and Markram have added 242 runs amongst them at an average of 121 and an SR of 186 against pacers whereas all the others have added just 344 runs at an average of 21.5 along with a mediocre SR. Hence, RCB bowlers will have their task cut out in how they approach the middle-over phase of the innings and restrict the duo from feasting on them? That will decide half the game in itself.

Can Kohli turn things around?

It has been a recurring question for over two years now and no one can predict anything. However, if hope is one thing that has taken the RCB fans for a crazy ride in the last one and half a decade, then the Kohli fans have the reasons to be hopeful for the Indian skipper to turn the clock around at some point and play a knock worthy of his stature as the finest white-ball player of the generation. Another peak, if not a peak like 2015-18, is warranted to satiate the massive image of success he has been able to achieve.

But then there is reasons to be practical too. The former Indian skipper has been mediocre against Sunrisers Hyderabad since IPL 2019. Till 2018, he had averaged more than 50 against the neighboring franchise but since 2019, the returns have dwindled to a hitherto unplumbed low, averaging just 12 while crossing more than 30 only once in 7 innings. Virat Kohli has registered 5 failures so far in the 7 matches he has batted in IPL 2022. 

Since IPL 2015, this has been the first instance where Kohli has failed to score a 50+ score in the first 7 matches of a season. This doesn’t really paint a rosy picture. But if one thing that the sport tells us is to believe and Kohli has enough ability to convert that to reality. Only if...

Probable XIs:

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis (c), Anuj Rawat, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Suyash Prabhudessai, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Siraj

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Kane Williamson (c), Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Shashank Singh, Jagadeesha Suchith, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Marco Jansen, Umran Malik, T Natarajan

Venue: Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

Date & Time: Apr 23, 07:30 PM IST