RCB vs KKR 36th Match Prediction

RCB vs KKR Team Previews

Royal Challengers Bangalore

The Royal Challengers Bangalore will be very happy with the way they have performed in the last few matches. They have won 3 of the last 4 games that they have played, including both their previous matches, and are now within touching distance of the top-4.

One of the major reasons for their success is the excellent performance of their top-order batsmen. Skipper Faf Du Plessis is in phenomenal form, scoring 5 half-centuries in 7 innings, and is leading the race for the Orange Cap. He has received excellent support from Virat Kohli and together the duo has given RCB some good starts.

As the wickets slow-up, we think things could start becoming difficult for Virat Kohli, particularly after the powerplay. 

Glenn Maxwell, who had a slow start to the season, has gradually gathered pace and played a couple of brilliant knocks in recent matches. His ability to strike big has been coupled with consistency this season and that is a very rare combination to have.

On the flip side, due to the top order’s dominance, the batsmen lower down the order haven’t had much of a chance to play. And whatever chances they did get, they struggled. Dinesh Kartik, Mahipal Lomror, and Shahbaz Ahmed have all failed to play a big inning so far.

Every team coming up against RCB will know that they are always two wickets away from exposing a weak middle order.

The seamers have done a good job for the team. Mohammed Siraj has picked up 13 wickets and is the joint-highest wicket-taker of the tournament. His ability to pick wickets in the powerplay is brilliant and he has also been quite economical so far.

He has received good support from Harshal Patel and Wayne Parnell. The spin department doesn’t look as strong though as Wanindu Hasaranga is the only full-time spinner on the team.

Kolkata Knight Riders

The Kolkata Knight Riders have struggled to perform in the last few matches and have lost each of their last 4 games. As a result, they have gradually fallen down the points table and now find themselves in the bottom-3.

While some of the Indian players in the batting line-up, including Venkatesh Iyer, Nitesh Rana, and Rinku Singh have played well, some of the big international names like Andre Russell and Rahmanullah Gurbaz haven’t been consistent.

The team is missing the services of experienced campaigners, Shreyas Iyer and Shakib Al-Hasan. Jason Roy, who recently made his way into the team, scored a brisk 61 runs in the last match and will be looking to play another big inning here.

It was quite strange to see Roy walk out in the middle order when he is best suited to play at the top. With some runs behind him, we hope KKR sends him out at his preferred position.

The bowling too hasn’t been in the best of forms this season. Varun Chakaravarthy has been the pick of the bowlers with 10 wickets and has received good support from Sunil Narine (who has been economical but has not been able too take many wickets).

Similarly, the pacers in the squad, including Umesh Yadav, Kulwant Khejroliya, and Shardul Thakur have failed to cause any problems for the opposition batsmen. The bowling attack for KKR is one of the weakest in IPL 2023.

The Knight Riders will need to come up with a special performance here if they want to turn things around. It also must be mentioned that KKR has made too many changes to its lineup and batting order so far. This could be because of the pressure that Chandrakant Pandit (KKR Coach) finds himself under.