IPL 2024: Previewing RCB vs PBKS

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will host Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Monday in its first home game of the IPL 2024 season. RCB comes into the contest on the back of a six-wicket reverse against defending champion Chennai Super Kings in the tournament opener. Punjab, on the other hand, defeated Delhi Capitals by four wickets to mark a positive start to its campaign.

Classy, composed and a fine crafter of innings', Faf du Plessis emerged as one of South Africa's most consistent batsmen in the post-Jacques Kallis era. Du Plessis is strong on the front foot, has impeccable defences and enjoys spending time at the crease.

India has given to the world many a great cricketer but perhaps none as ambitious as Virat Kohli. To meet his ambition, Kohli employed the technical assiduousness of Sachin Tendulkar and fitness that was in the league of top athletes in the world, not just cricketers. As a result, Kohli became the most consistent all-format accumulator of his time, making jaw-dropping chases look easy, and finding, in his own words, the safest possible way to score runs. Plenty of them.

Mohammed Siraj's rise as a seamer was remarkably swift. Sturdy and athletic, Siraj has a deceptive run-up, which initially suggests that a left-arm bowler is steaming in. He is, however, a right-armer and by his own admission is a natural at getting the ball to swing into the right-hander.

He hit the headlines for his breath-taking 350 off 138 balls for his club side Nantwich CC, known to be one of the highest scores in one-day games. He is a hard hitter and his twin centuries for England Lions against Sri Lanka’s A side had impressed Andy Flower, who said he was one of the hardest hitters he had ever seen. While his IPL stint was with RR in 2019, he was one of the biggest PBKS’ signings – INR 11.50 Cr – during the TATA IPL 2022 auction. Livingstone has played 167 T20s and has over 4100 runs to his name with the strike rate of over 140.

The Patiala-based wicketkeeper-batsman continued his stint with Punjab Kings after being bought for INR 60 Lac during the TATA IPL 2022 auction. Widely regarded as a hard-hitting wicketkeeper-batsman, Prabhsimran has put on some solid performances in the domestic cricket recently and will be waiting to make it count, if he features in the PBKS playing XI.

Arshdeep is one of only three Indian bowlers, after Jhulan Goswami and Ajit Agarkar, to start his T20I career with a maiden over. A death-overs specialist known for his accurate yorkers and 140kph-plus deliveries.

PBKS has a slight advantage over RCB in terms of the head-to-head record. Out of the 31 matches between the teams, Punjab has won 17 to Bengaluru’s 14.