Kohli vs Titans’ spinners the subplot (again) in rainy Bengaluru

Match details

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (tenth, P10, W3, L7) vs Gujarat Titans (eighth, P10, W4, L6)
Bengaluru, 1930 IST (1400 GMT)

Big picture – Will Kohli boss Titans spinners again?

Spin has been Virat Kohli’s nemesis in T20s for a few years now, but he produced a masterclass against one of the IPL’s best spin attacks in their last match to keep RCB’s hopes alive in the season, albeit barely so. On Saturday, he will go up against the same attack again when Gujarat Titans visit the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Before the first match against GT, Kohli was striking at 123.57 against spin this season, and in IPL 2023, his strike rate against spin was 112.8. But in Ahmedabad, Kohli scored 61 of his 70 runs against spin, at 179.41. In fact, Kohli’s last innings was one of the most dominant performances against spinners by an opener in IPL history, with no other opener getting a higher proportion of their runs against the slower bowlers while scoring 50 or more.

And Kohli looks ready to bring on more of the same, having had an extended session against the spinners on the eve of the match, focusing on his range-hitting against them.

Kohli’s takedown of GT’s spinners, and later Jacks’ incredible acceleration, meant RCB cruised in their chase of 201 without their two designated spin hitters – Rajat Patidar and Glenn Maxwell – having to go out to bat.

R Sai Kishore, Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad all went for more than 10 runs an over, and now they will face the same opponents at a ground that’s been a graveyard for spinners. With GT being a bowling-heavy team, they will need to revise their plans and come up with a way to stop RCB from making it three wins in a row.

Form guide

RCB – WWLLL (last five matches, most recent first)
GT – LLWLW

Previous meeting

An 86-run stand between Sai Sudharsan and Shahrukh Khan took Titans to 200 for 3 after openers Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha were dismissed within the first six overs. Despite Faf du Plessis falling to R Sai Kishore in the fourth over, the chase turned out to be an easy one in the end for RCB. Will Jacks struggled early on, but Virat Kohli ensured the visitors did not lose the momentum. At 16 off 16 at one point, Jacks suddenly exploded, smashing 84 runs off his next 15 deliveries. That included going 6, 6, 4, 6, 6 against Rashid to bring up his maiden IPL century and seal an NRR-boosting win in the 16th over.

Team news and impact player strategy

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

With back-to-back wins behind them, RCB will likely stick to the same combination they used last time, with the option of bringing in Mahipal Lomror or an extra bowler in Vyshak Vijaykumar or Akash Deep.

Probable XII: Faf du Plessis (capt), Virat Kohli, Will Jacks, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Karn Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal, Swapnil Singh, Mahipal Lomror/Vyshak Vijaykumar/Akash Deep

Gujarat Titans

GT are unlikely to tinker with their team, although they may be tempted to play an extra pacer in Josh Little or Spencer Johnson ahead of Noor Ahmad in Bengaluru.

Probable XII: Shubman Gill (capt), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh Khan, David Miller, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, R Sai Kishore, Mohit Sharma, Noor Ahmad/Josh Little, Sandeep Warrier

In the spotlight – Glenn Maxwell and Shubman Gill

One of RCB’s batting mainstays in recent years, Glenn Maxwell has been uncharacteristically off-colour in IPL 2024, scoring just 32 runs in six innings, 28 of which came in one knock. He was out of the XI after being asked to drop, and after a break, he was back in action against GT last Sunday. While he did not get a chance to bat in Ahmedabad, he got the wicket of the opposition captain Shubman Gill. With Patidar and Jacks hitting form for RCB, Maxwell will have a reduced burden in that middle order, and could benefit from being able to play with more freedom.

Shubman Gill, captaining in the IPL for the first time in his career and coming into this season on the back of scoring almost 900 runs in the last edition, has not quite had a tournament to remember. He has made just 320 runs in 10 matches so far, and scored just the two half-centuries. A return to the Chinnaswamy might just be the spark he needs to return to his form from last year – he scored his third century of IPL 2023 on his previous visit to the venue.

Stats that matter

Pitch and conditions

There was plenty of rain in Bengaluru on Friday afternoon, although it subsided in the evening. The forecast is the same for Saturday, so while it is expected to be cloudy, rain should not interrupt play.

Quotes

“We are moving along in the right direction. It is a shame it didn’t happen a few games earlier but there is still a chance for us. We have four games left. We are going to try and give our best, one by one. We will try and win this and one by one after that and it [getting into the playoffs] can happen if we perform in the next four games.” Will Jacks on RCB’s playoff chances

“It’s not a huge concern for us. Having Wriddhi [Wriddhiman Saha], we all know the kind of player he is. I don’t really, especially you guys, need to educate Shubman, we all know what his abilities are. It’s just a matter of us really playing that pace we’re looking for. Hopefully, we’ll make 300 as everybody is taking about. But we’ll be there and thereabouts on a ground like this.” GT assistant coach Naeem Amin on their top order not firing