Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Average score at venue: 165
Win percentage while batting first: 47.17%
Pitch Conditions:
- The pitch at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi is known for being batting friendly and teams would want to put on big scores after electing to bat in case they win the toss.
- With 69.35% of the wickets coming in their kitty, fast bowlers will be expected to dominate proceedings in the first match of the Indian T20 2021 second leg between RCB and KKR at this venue.
Weather prediction:
It will be bright and sunny at the start of the Match No 31 between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Abu Dhabi on Monday evening. The temperature will be around 34°C and humidity will linger in the range of 60%.
Head-to-head performance:
Matches played: 27
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) won: 13
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won: 14
Tied: –
Top 3 players from Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB): Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell
Top 3 players from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR): Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Andre Russell
Top picks for H2H/WTA contest (top 5 players each)
Top 5 players from Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB): Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, Devdutt Padikkal, Varun Chakravarthy
Top 5 players from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR): Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Lockie Ferguson, Rahul Tripathi
Q&A:
Should I pick more bowlers, batsmen or all-rounders?
T20 cricket is all about putting up big scores while batting first and both the teams will want to do the same when they take on each other on Monday evening. Going by their performances in the first leg of Indian T20 2021 tournament in India, Royal Challengers Bangalore look in a far better shape than Kolkata Knight Riders who were struggling in almost all departments. RCB also have a good deal of all-rounders in their ranks, with Wanindu Hasaranga being the latest addition to the squad. Having extra batting options for the fantasy playing XI will be the right way to go about in this contest.
From which team should I pick more players in my XI? Which team is stronger?
Royal Challengers Bangalore are certainly the stronger side between these two teams for the contest on Monday evening given that they currently stand at the third spot in the Indian T20 2021 points table with 4 victories in 7 matches. On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders are languishing at the second last position with only 2 wins in 7 matches giving them 4 points and a huge challenge ahead in the second leg of the tournament. Royal Challengers Bangalore have plenty of batsmen who can cause serious damage which includes Devdutt Padikkal, captain Virat Kohli, Maxwell and AB de Villiers.
MORE INFORMATION:
Players’ form: Kohli has announced that he will be stepping down as the captain of RCB team which is indeed a right decision, one that will help him in managing his workload. On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Eoin Morgan will be under a lot of pressure given that his team did not perform anywhere close to the level of satisfaction in the Indian leg of this year’s Indian T20. Ahead of the Cricket T20 World Cup 2021, which follows this year’s Indian T20 in the UAE, both these international team captains (Kohli for India and Morgan for England) would want to regain form and get some vital runs under their belt which will bolster their confidence. Padikkal will be eager to prove his mettle once again and make strides towards establishing himself as one of the most watchable batsmen in this tournament, which will be the same for the likes of Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana in the KKR camp.
Changes in squad (if any): YES
LIKELY XIs:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers (wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Kyle Jamieson, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
Kolkata Knight Riders: Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna.
FANTASY XI:
Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna.
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RCB look to maintain domination against struggling KKR
In their overall bilateral history of 27 matches, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have lost more than they have won against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). But over the last three years or so, the story has had a change.
Royal Challengers Bangalore have been on a winning spree, winning four matches on the trot against KKR starting from April 2019, and it is something that they would look to maintain when the two teams clash on Monday night in Abu Dhabi.
There will be some extra motivation for the RCB boys to bring out the best right from the start of the second league of Indian T20 2021, since their regular captain Kohli has announced this decision to step down from the captaincy of the franchisee at the end of the season.
While Kohli has made it clear that he will never be playing for any other franchisee apart from Royal Challengers Bangalore as long as he is an active player in the Indian T20, there still remains a big question about his leadership capabilities and ability to win trophies — something which would have had an influence over his decision to give away captaincy with the Indian team (in T20Is) and with RCB.
RCB will also be without some key players such as Adam Zampa, Washington Sundar, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams and Finn Allen. But in order to do damage control, RCB has been able to bring in the likes of Wanindu Hasaranga, Tim David, George Garton and Akash Deep. The addition of Hasaranga is certainly a masterstroke since the Sri Lankan single-handedly led the demolition job against India in August this year.
Nevertheless, with an extra motivating factor on their side, RCB will look to pile up further misery on the struggling Kolkata Knight Riders, who will be without their key fast bowler and Pat Cummins for the second leg of Indian T20 2021 in the UAE.
At the end of the India leg of Indian T20 2021, RCB stood at the third place in the points table with 4 wins and 3 defeats in 7 matches, whereas KKR were placed at the penultimate spot with as many as 5 defeats in 7 matches and 2 victories.
Shubman Gill will be making a comeback after a long absence from cricketing action whereas eyes will be fixated on how the likes of Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi go about the business. KKR will once again be dependent on Andre Russell for generating that extra spunk, whereas their captain Eoin Morgan and former skipper Dinesh Karthik will have to chip in with vital runs at the later stages in the game. With Cummins missing the action, it is likely that KKR continue to play with Lockie Ferguson in the second leg of Indian T20 2021.
