Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to end their losing streak when they taken on Kings XI Punjab in a blockbuster Indian Premier League (IPL) clash at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on Saturday.

Bangalore are languishing at the bottom of the table after losing their first six games of the season while as for Punjab, they can enter the top four if they come out victorious in this clash.

Also Read: KXIP predicted XI vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Lets take a look a some of the important player battles that could decide the outcome of this contest –

1 ) Chris Gayle vs Umesh Yadav

Windies hard-hitter Chris Gayle is enjoying a rich vein of form and has been taking the attack to every bowling line-up that has come his way. Against Bangalore, he will come up against Umesh Yadav and things could go tricky for the veteran southpaw. Gayle has managed to score 37 off 37 Umesh deliveries in the past but more importantly, the India pacer has dismissed him three times.

2) KL Rahul vs Yuzvendra Chahal

Like Gayle, opener KL Rahul too has been in sensational form for KXIP and he is one of the leading run-getters in the league. Rahul will pose a big threat to RCB’s ambition of winning the match and the visitors will hope their premier spinner can get rid of him early in the innings. Rahul has scored 29 runs of 19 deliveries against Yuzvendra Chahal in the past but hasn’t been dismissed by him yet in the IPL.

3) Virat Kohli vs Mohammed Shami

Despite the team not able to win a single match so far, Virat Kohli’s personal form has been good and he has been among the runs for the bottom-placed side. Against Punjab, he will have to deal with the pace of India teammate Mohammed Shami, who has caused him problems in the past. Shami has dismissed Kohli once in the IPL before and off 15 deliveries, Kohli has scored just 19 runs against him.

4)AB de Villiers vs R Ashwin

Middle-order batsman AB de Villiers has been hot and cold in the tournament thus far and will have to up his game against KXIP if he is to score runs against his nemesis Ravichandran Ashwin. The spinner has dismissed de Villiers twice before in the IPL and has given just 45 runs off 39 deliveries against him.

Also Read: Virat Kohli and Co look to halt losing streak against Kings XI Punjab

5) Parthiv Patel vs Andrew Tye

Parthiv Patel has done reasonably well while opening the innings for RCB this season. Although he hasn’t score a big innings yet, Parthiv has managed to provide starts to the team. Against KXIP, he will have to deal with the pace of Andrew Tye upfront. So far, Parthiv holds a good record against Tye as he has slammed him for 25 runs of 16 deliveries and hasn’t been dismissed even once.

First Published: Apr 13, 2019 17:27 IST