NEW DELHI: After a disastrous start in the 12th season of IPL, Royal Challengers Bangalore will look for their first win as they face Kolkata Knight Riders in their next match at the M Chinnaswamy stadium today.
RCB lost their last game by seven wickets against Rajasthan Royals but skipper Virat Kohli is still hopeful will come out with flying colours in the upcoming matches.
?We have 10 games to go. If we start turning things around pretty soon, then we can get on a roll as well. We have to keep believing as a side. Just four games in, we would have liked one result our way if not two. The Mumbai game and this one, I thought we played well,” RCB skipper Virat Kohli said after the match.
”We just didn't grab onto our chances, we will like to improve our performance and take a bit of confidence that we were a bit more competitive than the last game,” he added.
Both batting and bowling department has led RCB down in this season of IPL so far.
Batting collapse is the biggest worrying factor for RCB and even captain Kohli's form hasn't been up to the mark as compare to his international performance. So far, Virat's has been batting with an average less than 20 in four games. Parthiv Patel and AB de Villiers are the only batsmen who have batted with an average of 20.
Despite their struggling form, Kohli and de Villiers are very close to achieve new feat in cash-rich game. Kohli is 17 runs away from becoming the second Indian cricketer after Suresh Raina to complete 8,000 in T20 matches while De Villiers is 15 runs away from becoming the second highest T20 run-scorer for RCB. He has 3,406 runs under his belt.
RCB's bowling department has also been disappointing and they need to work hard on it. Apart from Yuzvendra Chahal, all the other RCB bowlers have failed to take wickets at crucial points of the matches.
On the other hand, KKR won their first two matches in this season before losing their last game in the super over against Delhi Capitals.
Though KKR lost their last game by three runs but their confidence level is still high as their batsmen, including Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Robin Uthappa and Shubhman Gill are in top form.
Russell has been in sensational form with his incredible power-hitting ability that helped KKR to win two matches. Restricting him will be a challenge for RCB bowlers.
However, only concern for KKR is lack of experience in their bowling attack. Sunil Narine sat out of their previous match due to an injury. If Narine is fit enough to play, he will be definitely included in the playing XI.
Last year, KKR defeated RCB in both the matches. In the head to head clash, KKR are ahead with 14 wins to RCB's nine from 23 matches till date.
KKR is at fourth position with four points in the eight team standings after playing three matches while RCB is at bottom of points table as they are yet to win a game in the ongoing IPL season.
(AGENCIES)
