The clash between Royal Challengers and Chennai Super Kings is one of the marquee matches in the Indian Premier League. While expectations are always high, the records are lopsided in favour of the Super Kings.
However, when the two sides meet here at the DY Patil Stadium on Tuesday, the Royal Challengers, led by ex CSK star Faf du Plessis, will start as firm favourites.
After failing to defend a high score in the first match against Punjab Kings, RCB has done well to bounce back with a hat-trick of wins.
In the last match against Mumbai Indians, the bowlers did well to take six wickets after the PowerPlay for just 29 runs, thus restricting the opponent to a modest total before Anuj Rawat and Virat Kohli chased down the target comfortably.
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While the team will miss the services of pacer Harshal Patel who left the bubble after the game on Saturday due to a bereavement in the family, it received a boost with pacers Josh Hazlewood and Jason Behrendorff starting training on Monday.
The Super Kings, under new skipper Ravindra Jadeja, had a disastrous start to its title defence campaign with four straight losses. Their concern is the absence of effective wicket-taking bowlers, especially with the new ball, while dew has blunted its spin attack.
The men in yellow also will need the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ambati Rayudu to step up sooner than later to give themselves a chance in the tournament.