Kohli’s form in focus against Royals

Royal Challengers Bangalore will be aiming to halt the Jos Buttler juggernaut when they take on Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League here on Tuesday. Attention will be on Virat Kohli as well following his second consecutive first ball duck in the competition.

While the Challengers come into the match on the back of a demoralising nine-wicket loss, RCB would be hoping their star batter to be back among the runs besides a much improved performance by the batting unit after a shocker in the previous game to Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan have had two successive wins and are one of the in-form teams this season.

While the focus would be on Kohli, RCB have also power-hitters in captain Faf Du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik and Shahbaaz Ahmed, who can be destructive on their day and if they fire in unison, the RR attack would have a tough time.

They are up against Rajasthan’s varied attack, led by Trent Boult, who has troubled Kohli in the past with the delivery that comes in. Prasidh Krishna and the spin duo of wily Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal can also pose problems for the RCB batters.

The weak links in Rajasthan’s batting are Karun Nair and Riyan Parag and the duo would need to step up and deliver. For RCB, they have the best death bowler in Harshal Patel, but he would need support from Mohammed Siraj and Josh Hazlewood. The four overs by Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga, who has eleven wickets, could also change the match’s fate.