Sharjah: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bat against Punjab Kings (PKBS) in the 48th match of the IPL 2021, at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, here Sunday.
RCB, who are just one win away from securing a place in playoffs, didn’t make any change in their team for this match.
Speaking at the toss, Bangalore captain Kohli mentioned that he wanted to bat first and put pressure on the opposition. “Looks like a really nice and hard wicket. We understand that the pitches tend to slow down here, precisely why we want to bat first and put pressure. We are playing the same side. We feel we have enough depth in all departments in our lineup,” said Kohli.
“To be honest, this pitch looks much better than the last game we played here. If we play well, we could get those 20-25 extra runs which could be the difference. You need to make sure you get those runs and not leave them on the field. You need that momentum,” he added.
On the other hand, the KL Rahul-led Punjab Kings made three changes as Harpreet Brar, Sarfaraz Khan and Moises Henriques replaced Fabian Allen (injured), Deepak Hooda, Nathan Ellis respectively in the playing eleven.
Talking about the performances of his players, Rahul highlighted the performance of domestic Indian cricketers. “Our domestic performances are something that we are very proud of. That is what the IPL is about. Hopefully they can continue and they can grow ahead as well, which would be good for the Indian team as well,” said Rahul.
Playing XI:
Punjab Kings: KL Rahul(wk/c), Mayank Agarwal, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Moises Henriques, Harpreet Brar, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh
Royal Challengers Bangalore : Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Srikar Bharat (wk), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Daniel Christian, George Garton, Shahbaz Ahmed, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
