It will be a battle of survival for the two national captains as Virat Kohli's struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore square off against a fledgling Pune Supergiants led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni in an IPL encounter for the bottom-rung teams in Bengaluru on Saturday. With five defeats in seven games, RCB are currently placed at a lowly seventh spot in the table with four points while Pune are just a notch above in sixth spot courtesy their third win against Delhi Daredevils, on Thursday. It has been a tough journey for the two superstars of Indian cricket as their franchises have dished one disappointing performance after another. RCB with perhaps the most intimidating batting line-ups has had to taste defeat because of a pedestrian bowling attack that has failed to defend 180 plus scores in most of the matches.
India's captain asserted that there was nothing wrong with India's choice of bowlers as they needed to score more runs in order to let their spinners call the shots.
Pacer Josh Hazlewood expressed happiness after his three-wicket haul helped Royal Challengers Bangalore bet Delhi Capitals by 16 runs in the IPL match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.
RCB found the going tough as they could score only 36 runs from the Powerplay overs.
Star batsman Virat Kohli termed the criticism directed to his India teammate Yuvraj Singh, following his performance in India's recent World Twenty20 loss to Sri Lanka in Bangladesh, as 'unfaired'.
Brendon McCullum lauded senior Indian stars Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for their performances in the ICC Cricket World Cup.
Images from the IPl match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
RCB posted a photo of AB de Villiers on Twitter
'For the sake of the Sport, the IPL, the fans and even the players, I think BCCI needs to enforce the Sale of RCB to a new owner who will care to build a sports franchise the way most of the other teams have done so #tragic.'
Dismissing suggestions that Virat Kohli should open the batting in the T20 World Cup, former India opener Gautam Gambhir has firmly backed K L Rahul to do the job, saying the out-of-form batter has "probably got more ability".
Their pace attack has been the most fearsome this IPL season but Sunrisers Hyderabad swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar feels it would be a tough task for his team to counter the marauding Royal Challengers Bangalore batsmen when the two teams clash in the final on Sunday. Hyderabad edged out Gujarat Lions by four wickets on Friday in Qualifier 2 to set up a summit clash with Bangalore, who had beaten the same opponents in Qualifier 1. "We will definitely strategise because I read somewhere the other day that Virat Kohli has scored 35 per cent of RCB's runs. It'll be a big task for us to get (Chris) Gayle, Virat (Kohli) and AB (De Villers) and later, (Shane) Watson, out. We are hoping for a good contest," Bhuvneshwar said at the post match press conference in New Delhi.
VVirat Kohli's franchise wants to unite fans on an innovative digital community platform.
Images from the IPL 2024 match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Kolkata Knight Riders at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday.
While RCB's broken third wicket stand turned the tide in Mumbai's favour, the hosts's third-wicket partnership took the game away from the visitors.
An ugly spat occurred between Royal Challengers Bangalore bowler Harshal Patel and Mumbai batsman Ambati Rayudu in the IPL match between the two sides and the home team captain came in defence of his player.
5 instances when teams didn't cross the 70 run mark in 13 seasons.
Anushka Sharma was ecstatic about RCB's victory.
Left to lick their wounds after losing their last three matches in a row, Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to return to winning ways when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in their first home match in IPL 7 in Bangalore on Saturday.
While the move resulted in Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer losing out on their annual BCCI contract, Badrinath lauded the BCCI.
Virat Kohli, who has given up the RCB captaincy, was retained along with Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and young pace bowler Mohammed Siraj.
The status report claims that RCB organised a massive victory parade and celebration without prior permission or furnishing mandatory details to city authorities.
Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli admitted that his team has not played as a unit, resulting in five defeats in eight games, including the 32-run loss to Kings XI Punjab on Friday.
Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli on Saturday said his side will not take the good showing in the first leg of the IPL for granted, adding that latest additions, including Sri Lanka's Wanidu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera, have added a new dimension to the team.
For KKR, the biggest cause of concern will be the availability of big-hitter Andre Russell, who hurt his knee when he dived into the advertisement boards after missing a catch on Saturday.
RCB will be strengthened further when the immensely-talented Devdutt Padikkal makes the team after his recovery from COVID-19.
Virat Kohli called his bowlers' profligacy 'criminal' after Chennai Super Kings chased down a steep target of 206
RCB slumped to their fifth defeat in seven games after failing to defend 176 against KKR on Sunday night.
IMAGES from the IPL 2023 match played between Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday
Kohli seemed delighted to see his India teammate make an excellent return after a long injury layoff.
Faf du Plessis showed why he continues to be among the top-rated batters in T20 cricket at the D Y Patil stadium on Tuesday night.
However, it remains to be seen how RCB will cope without players like Rajat Patidar and Josh Hazlewood, who both have been sidelined for at least the first half of this IPL due to injuries. Australian Glenn Maxwell is also unlikely to feature in Sunday's game.
Royals Challengers Bangalore will start as overwhelming favourites against bottom-placed Kings XI.
India captain Virat Kohli said he won't mind sitting out one or two matches in IPL-12 to stay fit and fresh for the ICC World Cup.
RCB batting and fielding coach Trent Woodhill feels out-of-form West Indies opener Chris Gayle should take a cue from skipper Virat Kohli's batting and try regain his old touch.
Skipper Virat Kohli said the manner in which his side beat Delhi Capitals will give Royal Challengers Bangalore "the confidence to pull off a game from any situation" in the IPL play-offs.
Simply blown away by their pyrotechnics, West Indies left-hander Chris Gayle compared Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers to Marvel comics' superheroes 'Batman' and 'Superman', as the duo lit up the Indian Premier League with some dazzling display of top quality batsmanship.
RCB are placed at the bottom of the eight-team standings with only nine points following eight defeats and four victories.
The fans in Bengaluru had a party time as it rained sixes and fours all evening at the M Chinnaswamy stadium.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will have rise to the occasion when they take on the already-eliminated Delhi Daredevil
Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli insists that the team, whose best finish over the last seven editions of the IPL is runners-up in 2009 and 2011, can will the title this time.
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