The defending champions, Royal Challengers Bangalore, are in excellent form in the current IPL. They have played five matches so far, winning four of them. With 8 points, RCB is in second place on the league table. They also secured a dominant victory in their last match against Lucknow Super Giants. In-form RCB will take the field on Saturday against Delhi Capitals. In this match, Virat Kohli’s team will appear in a completely new look. They will shed their familiar red jersey and wear a green one.
On Saturday, RCB’s opponent is Delhi, who have played four matches. They have won two and lost two. Delhi is in sixth place on the league table. Based on current form, Bangalore is entering the upcoming match as the favorite. The reason is that the team’s top order is in fantastic rhythm. Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Devdutt Padikkal, Phil Salt, and Tim David are providing confidence to the team. Their strength has increased further with the addition of Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood.
Delhi has lost its last two matches. However, two factors could boost their confidence before facing RCB. First, K L Rahul’s form at the ‘home ground’ of Chinnaswamy. Last year at this ground, he remained unbeaten on 93 runs. Playing just 20 innings at this ground, Rahul has scored over five hundred runs. Although he didn’t start with runs this year, Rahul is gradually returning to form. Second, the jersey luck for Virat’s team. Every year, RCB takes the field in a green-colored jersey for one match to convey a message of environmental awareness. But the number of matches RCB has lost in that jersey is significantly higher.
Additionally, on Saturday evening, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings will face each other. Although CSK did not start well, they have somewhat recovered by winning the last two matches consecutively. Sunrisers Hyderabad, on the other hand, snatched the ‘unbeaten’ tag from the confident Rajasthan Royals. Therefore, both camps are in good spirits before facing off in Hyderabad on Saturday. CSK is being bolstered by the batting of Sanju Samson and Ayush Badoni. Meanwhile, for Hyderabad, along with Abhishek Sharma’s batting, the ‘nameless’ bowling of players like Prafull Hinge and Shakib Hussain is adding confidence to the camp.