Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are very much in the race to playoffs and all they need to do is to defeat Gujarat Titans (GT) with a bigger margin in their last league-stage game in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. Thought a win doesn’t confirm their place in the knockouts, they cannot afford a loss as well when they take the field on Thursday night at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
While Gujarat have already qualified for the playoffs, RCB are placed fifth with 14 points in their kitty and a negative NNR of -0.323. ,IPL 2022 RCB vs GT, Live Cricket score)
Meanwhile, GT skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to bat first. They have made one change to their winning combination; Lockie Ferguson has replaced Alzarri Joseph.
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“We are going to bat. The kind of situation we are in, we thought we can practice batting first and putting a good score on the board. Obviously, we had done well as a group, but we haven’t capitalized on batting first on opportunities,” said Pandya after winning the toss.
“We kind of asked all the boys if they wanted to rest, but they are all pumped to play all the games. Everyone said let’s continue the rhythm. Looks like a similar wicket to the one we played against Chennai, but I expect this to play better as this is a night game. Always fun when you are winning as well. But overall, as well captaincy is allowing me to express my point of view towards the game. It has helped me to become a better cricketer,” he added.
RCB, on the other hand, have also made a crucial bowling change. They have given a chance to pacer Siddharth Kaul who will replace Mohammed Siraj in the final XI.
“We would have batted too. Looks a bit drier than it usually does in the evenings. Our previous game was pretty disappointing. One change to see if we can do a little bit better in the powerplay, so Sid Kaul comes in for Siraj. We have to win today and Delhi need to lose their game. The only thing we can control is to get the W in the column today. Games like today bring the challenge of what characters could do and we have got some great characters in that dressing room. Hopefully, we can have those guys stepping up,” Du Plessis said.
Here are the playing XIs:
Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade, Hardik Pandya(c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Lockie Ferguson, Yash Dayal, Mohammed Shami.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik(w), Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Siddarth Kaul, Josh Hazlewood.
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