IPL 2023 PREVIEW: CSK vs RCB

After a promising start to the season with an emphatic victory over Mumbai, RCB's old habits seemed to have resurfaced in no time. Their perennial issue of suffering a big loss that damages their Net Run Rate (NRR) has plagued them for the past five seasons, costing them a playoff spot or a chance to finish in the top two. Despite being in commanding positions, RCB lost both their games against KKR and Lucknow due to rudimentary mistakes. Allowing the opposition to hunt down a colossal total of 210 after reducing them to 37/3 and permitting them to amass 204 from a precarious position of 89/4 only highlights the incompetence of the RCB team. The same mistake that had led to their downfall against KKR was repeated by RCB in their match against DC. Despite starting well and reaching 89/1, they fell apart rapidly and ended up with just 132/6, largely due to errors such as the batting order being disrupted and DK's flawed game sense. Anuj Rawat's poor innings further hampered RCB's efforts, and they could only muster 40 runs in the final 6 overs.

It was a rare occurrence for RCB, as their bowlers put in a fantastic effort to defend a modest target of 175 at their home ground. The star performer of the match was Siraj, who has been simply sensational at CSS, delivering outstanding figures of 4-21-1, 4-22-3, and 4-23-2. Making his debut, VijayKumar Vysakh was equally impressive, showcasing his intelligence with the ball and taking three crucial wickets while conceding only 20 runs.

Addition of Hazlewood and Hasarnga will only take things upwards from here. Hasaranga's impressive record of 26 wickets last season, with 20 of them coming in the middle overs, can be an asset for RCB, especially in the period where they allow the opposition to score freely. Additionally, his prowess in picking wickets in the death overs, with an economy rate of 7.3, can be crucial for RCB's success.

Hazlewood has been one of the best white-ball bowlers post-2021, with 49 wickets from 32 games for Australia in T20Is at an economy rate of 7.2. His ability to pick wickets in the death overs, as he did for RCB last season (8), is an invaluable addition to the team.

However, there is a silver lining for RCB in the first 4 games, with their improved approach in the Powerplay. Last season, their run rate in the Powerplay was the second-worst, and they were not in the top five in terms of hitting sixes.So far the opening partnership of Virat and Faf have added 330 runs from 4 games at an impressive RR of 9.3.

RCB's weakness against spin bowling is well-known, and CSK, with their array of spinners, have a formidable record against every RCB batter. To counter this, the likes of Mahipal Lomror and Anuj Rawat will have to step up their game.

The game could be very well over in Powerplay itself for RCB. Last year Theekshana bowled 15 overs in PP and picked 6 wkts at an impressive economy of 7.9. Having Moeen and Jadeja further adds to their misery as RCB were found wanting against their spinners in both fixtures last season. Overall, CSK always had an edge over RCB at CSS by winning 3 out of the last 4 games here and the one they lost was on the last ball. This also happens to be Dhoni’s happy hunting ground. He has scored 463 runs here at a mammoth SR of 180.

Probable Playing XIs

Royal Challengers Bangalore

F du Plessis(C), Virat Kohli, Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik(wk), Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood, Vijaykumar Vyshak

Chennai Super Kings

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, MM Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dubey, Dwaine Pretorious, MS Dhoni(C & wk), Tushar Deshpande, M Theekshana, Akash Singh

Venue

M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

-Average Total batting 1st: 169.8
-Average 1st innings winning total: 188
-Highest total: 263/5 - RCB vs PWI, 2013
-Lowest total: 82/10 - RCB v KKR, 2008
-Total Match Played: 84
-Batting First Won: 35
-Batting Second Won: 46

Head to Head

Overall: CSK leads by 20-10

Batting 1st: CSK leads by 9-6
Batting 2nd: CSK leads by 11-4
Last 5 matches: CSK leads by 4-1

Most Runs:

Virat Kohli - 993
MS Dhoni - 750

Most wkts:

Dwayne Bravo - 18
Ravindra Jadeja - 17

Last year’s Standings

Bangalore: 4th
Chennai: 9th

Team Form

RCB: W L L W
CSK: L W W L

Match Ups (IPL)

Kohli v Jadeja: 140 off 131, 3 outs
Maxwell v Jadeja: 49 off 40, 6 outs
Shahbaz v Theekshana: 3 off 6, 2 outs
Kohli v Moeen: 26 off 18, 2 outs ( overall )
Kohli v Santner: 59 off 48, 1 out

Rayudu v Harshal: 54 off 44, 5 out
Dhoni v Harshal; 25 off 32, 2 out
Ruturaj v Siraj: 52 off 36
Dhoni v Siraj: 51 off 28
Ruturaj v Hasaranga: 22 off 10

Form Update (last 5 IPL innings)

Key Players and Fantasy Picks

Faf du Plessis / Virat Kohli / Ruturaj Gaikwad

A top order batter should be your 1st priority in Fantasy 11. Faf has been in some surreal form off late with 177 runs at an SR of 143 in BBL and became the 1st centurion in SA 20. He scored 369 runs at an average of 41 (2nd highest). He was the MoM in the opening game for his 73. He scored 79 off 46 deliveries against LSG. He has 197 runs at a SR of 165 with 14 sixes.

Out of all the venues, Kohli enjoys batting the most at Chinnaswamy with 3 100s and a SR of 140+. He has scored 993 runs against CSK. He has played 3 games at Chiinaswamy and scored 50+ in all of them.

Ruturaj also has exact similar stats with 197 runs, 65.3 average and 14 sixes

After a fantastic home season in VHT and SMAT, he tallied an impressive 660 runs with a strike rate of 113 in the former and 295 runs at a staggering strike rate of 146 in the latter. Though he had a lackluster performance last year, he was the recipient of the orange cap award in the preceding season. His batting was simply mesmerizing in the first match, as he scored a scintillating 92 runs, and he continued to impress with another half-century in the second match.

Glenn Maxwell

In 2021 and 2022, Maxwell scored 814 runs for RCB at a SR of 152. No one scored more runs than him at a better rate and he did it by batting at 4 or below. He is also an effective off spinner who bowled a few economical overs in Powerplay. With Rajat not in the scene and DK not among runs in the recent past, the onus of carrying the middle order solely lies on him and he did not disappoint against LSG scoring 59 from 29 balls and straightaway took on the spinners in middle overs against Delhi.

Wild Card

Ambati Rayudu

Rayudu has played few memorable innings on this venue and pulled off games from Improbable positions like the one in 2012. He averages 47 here. Despite his age, he has displayed a few glimpses of his past gameplay with 27 off 14 and 20 off 16, proving that he is still far from being done.

Fantasy XI