Bottom-placed Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) will be under tremendous pressure as they now face a mustwin situation when they take on the Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium today. Royal Challengers Bangalore taking on Kings XI Punjab in Sharjah today will be a classic case of one team approaching the knockout stages while the other will be looking at an early exit.
With IPL 2020 just past the midway stage in the league, Bangalore is sitting at the third position while KXIP lingers at the end of the points table, from where all they can hope for is some radical changes in fortune for all teams, not least them if there is even any remote scope of recovery. This also makes them a dangerous side, since it is by the hour becoming a nothing-to-lose situation for them, making any matches here dodgy for the top-rung sides. RCB is now working like a well-oiled side. Between Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, the batting is beginning to look threatening, with Devdatt Padikkal and now also Aaron Finch, adding muscle. Virat started his campaign with a bad form, however, he silenced his critics with his willow-yeilding against Rajasthan Royals.
Virat Kohli remained unbeaten on 72 off 53 to create history in the Indian Premier League. He hit seven fours and two sixes in his innings t o help RCB register a comfortable 8 wicket win over the Royals in Abu Dhabi. Bangalore’s bowling has also begun to come to form, with Chris Morris adding depth to the attack with Yuzvendra Chahal, Isuru Udana, and Washington Sundar leading what is now likely the IPL’s most diverse attack. Punjab is seeming that they can’t buy a win now.
They have contrived to lose from positions where it would be easier to win and while skipper KL Rahul is still way ahead of the rest of the batsmen in IPL 2020, overall, KXIP are in an interminable dread. Take their match against Kolkata Knight Riders. Chasing 164, KXIP were 144/1 in 17.1 overs and ended up finishing 20 overs at 162/5, leaving both sides wondering what happened. That pretty much describes the KXIP season. It is amazing to see that the last time KXIP met RCB in IPL 2020, Rahul scored a century, Ravi Bishnoi and the rest of the bowlers partied and RCB lost by 97 runs.
It seems surreal now. But now that they are cornered, there is little KXIP can do other than fight back, and that could be the thin ice that RCB wants to avoid. Any points lost now can spell disaster for all concerned, so they mustn’t trip over KXIP and then later rue the loss. While Kohli and Co will look to avenge their defeat , K X I P will certainly aim to spoil the party and in such a case, another thrilling contest is likely to be witnessed at a battingfriendly Sharjah wicket.