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Focus on Kohli and Du Plessis as Royal Challengers Bangalore eye playoff berth: RCB predicted XI vs GT in IPL 2023
Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis will open for RCB as they will eyeing a playoff berth. Here is their IPL 2023 predicted XI.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will take on the defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) in the IPL 2023 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on May 21. RCB are coming off a couple of dominant victories over RR and SRH in their last two games and the task for RCB is simple, they need to win their final game to qualify for the playoffs as their superior net run-rate would help them qualify over MI if both teams end on the same points. RCB could even qualify after losing to GT but then they would require other results to go in their favour.
RCB played six of their first eight games at home, then played five consecutive games away from home. They will be back in Bangalore to conclude their season against top of the table GT on Sunday. RCB have won seven and lost six of their twelve games so far and are currently in fourth spot with fourteen points.
Also Read | Lucknow beat KKR by one run, qualify for playoffs
They dominated MI in their opening game of the season. KKR handed them their first loss of the season as RCB were comfortably second best in Kolkata. LSG then beat RCB in a final ball thriller in Bangalore. RCB then beat DC in Bangalore before CSK defeated them in another thrilling finish at the Chinnaswamy. RCB got back to winning ways as they beat PBKS in Mohali. RCB made it two wins in a row as they beat RR in Bengaluru. Then RCB beat LSG in a hotly contested game in Lucknow. RCB were then comfortably second best as they tasted defeat against DC in Delhi. RCB then lost again as MI chased down a 200-run target with 21 balls to spare in Mumbai. RCB then made a few bold changes to their team and their gamble paid off as they came away with a dominant 112-run win from Jaipur. Last time out, RCB recorded another dominant victory as they beat SRH by 8 wickets in Hyderabad.
Chasing 187 to win, RCB got off to a flying start courtesy of in-form openers - Virat Kohli and Captain Faf du Plessis as they stitched together a 172-run opening partnership to take RCB on the cusp of victory. Kohli scored a scintillating century as Klaasen’s ton for SRH was futile.
RCB have been heavily reliant on their top three to do the heavy lifting in the batting department this season. Du Plessis is the top run-scorer in the league this season with 702 runs and has already scored eight fifty plus scores this season. Kohli has scored 538 runs with six half-centuries and one century this season. Maxwell has chipped in with 389 runs in the thirteen games so far. No other batter in the team has scored 150 runs in the twelve games so far.
The bowlers did well against SRH to restrict them to under 200 runs. Siraj has picked up 17 wickets at an economy of seven this season. Harshal Patel has picked up 13 wickets so far. Karn Sharma, Wanindu Hasaranga and Vijaykumar Vyshak have also chipped in with 27 wickets between them so far. Wayne Parnell has chipped in with 9 wickets and Bracewell has also chipped in with 6 wickets in four games. RCB are expected to be unchanged for their final game of the season.
Kedar Jadhav, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Shahbaz Ahmed, Suyash Prabhudessai could be utilised as the Impact player depending on whether RCB bat first or second.
RCB predicted XI vs GT:
Openers: Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli.
Middle Order: Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat (wk), Mahipal Lomror.
All-rounders: Glenn Maxwell, Michael Bracewell.
Bowlers: Wayne Parnell, Harshal Patel, Mohammad Siraj, Karn Sharma.
Impact Player: Kedar Jadhav, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Shahbaz Ahmed, Suyash Prabhudessai are the Impact Player options for RCB.
