IPL 2021, RCB vs RR Playing XIs: Rajasthan Royals include spinner with high success-rate against Kohli, de Villiers

IPL 2021: Rajasthan Royals will be batting first in Match 16 of the IPL 2021 after Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bowl.

Rajasthan Royals will be batting first in Match 16 of the IPL 2021 after Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bowl at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. Kohli announced that his team has made one change from the win against Kolkata Knight Riders last Sunday, with fast bowler Kane Richardson getting a game ahead of Rajat Patidar.

Shreyas Gopal has dismissed Kohli and de Villiers a combined seven times in the IPL. (IPL/Twitter)

"Going to bowl. Have seen results here whether there's dew or not. Still continues to be a high scoring ground. Last night we saw even if you lose early wickets, just one partnership and you're never far in the game. Been batting well as a group. Confident we can chase anything down. At the same time, we're bowling well as well. Just want to get into this pitch and conditions with the new ball and try and exploit whatever we can," Kohli said after winning the toss.

Royals captain Sanju Samson revealed the one change in their XI, which was the addition of leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal in place of fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat. Gopal has a tremendous success rate against RCB's batting duo of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, whom he has dismissed a combined seven times in the IPL. Gopal has dismissed Kohli three times in five innings, while he has accounted for de Villiers’ wicket four times in six innings.

"Will be a good experience for the batsmen to bat first. Saw the last game it can get tight in the end. It's evenly balanced, we just need to play some good cricket. It's all about playing with the heart. Ups and downs are going to happen in IPL. Important to trust yourself and trust your teammates. There's nothing much to think about. Just back yourself. One change, Gopal replaces Unadkat," Samson said.

RCB Playing XI: Virat Kohli(c), Devdutt Padikkal, Shahbaz Ahmed, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers(w), Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Kane Richardson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal

RR Playing XI: Jos Buttler, Manan Vohra, Sanju Samson(w/c), Shivam Dube, David Miller, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Shreyas Gopal, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman