Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bowl first against Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. Kohli said that the 'confident' RCB unit has the ability to chase any total down.
While RCB replaced Rajat Patidar with Kane Richardson, the Royals brought in Shreyas Gopal in place of Jaydev Unadkat. "Going to bowl. Have seen results here whether there's dew or not. Confident we can chase anything down.
"Try and exploit whatever we can with the new ball. Very exciting for me as a batsman but the bowlers will have to adjust. Have experienced conditions totally opposite in Chennai. Just one change. Richardson replaces Patidar. Has been bowling well in the BBL," said Kohli.
RCB come into the game after a hat-trick of wins. They defeated Mumbai Indians in the tournament opener before getting the better of Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders to jump to the top of the points table.
Royals, on the other hand, are struggling to find consistency, managing to win only one of their three fixtures. They lost to Chennai Super Kings in their previous match to slip down to the sixth spot.
Will be a good experience for the batsmen to bat first. Saw the last game it can get tight in the end. It's evenly balanced, we just need to play some good cricket. It's all about playing with the heart. Ups and downs are going to happen in IPL. Important to trust yourself and trust your teammates. There's nothing much to think about. Just back yourself. One change, Gopal replaces Unadkat," said RR captain Sanju Samson.
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Jos Buttler, Manan Vohra, Sanju Samson(w/c), Shivam Dube, David Miller, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Shreyas Gopal, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Virat Kohli(c), Devdutt Padikkal, Shahbaz Ahmed, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers(w), Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Kane Richardson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal.
