Qualifier 1 RCB v GT – Battle royale between two formidable sides but with different strengths

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‘Can Royal Challengers Bengaluru lift the IPL title for the second time in a row?’ Be it in Kannada or English, this aforesaid question has become the main talking point in various parts of Bengaluru. But for their beloved franchise to hoist the coveted trophy, RCB have to first wade through the challenge of Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1. For a moment, just glance through the league phase, the only point of difference between the two sides was net run rate.

From RCB’s point of view, they would be quite confident of their batting unit. Even if Phil Salt doesn’t pass the fitness test ahead of the game, RCB would believe in Venkatesh Iyer to turbocharge the powerplay overs alongside Virat Kohli. After all, he played with a fair amount of panache in RCB’s previous game against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Despite worry lines over Salt’s fitness and Jitesh Sharma’s form, RCB’s bigger concerns could lie somewhere on the bowling side of things. Suyash Sharma is one of them. The wrist spinner has taken 9 wickets in 12 games so far in this IPL; accounting for just two scalps in his last four matches. Incidentally, before the start of the IPL season, this correspondent observed Suyash dragging the ball down enough times in net sessions. Unfortunately for RCB and Suyash, he has continued to bowl it on a shorter length through the season.

Josh Hazlewood, one of the pace spearheads, himself hasn’t been at his absolute best in this IPL. In fact, in his last five matches, he has taken just wickets at a cost of more than 50 runs per every wicket. Probably it is down to the execution part, especially with the new ball. If anything, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and to a slightly lesser extent Rasikh Salam have carried the pace attack.

In that respect, can RCB add some buffer to their pace attack by bringing in Richard Gleeson in conditions that might offer a bit of nip and variable bounce? Gleeson isn’t just known for hitting the deck hard but is also useful at employing cross seam; something that has worked in Dharamshala. However, for that to happen, RCB may have to rejig the batting order or visualise finding a place for Gleeson as an impact sub. For the moment it seems unlikely.

Lest we forget about the conditions in Dharamshala. The venue is at an altitude of 1457m  above sea level. So, the ball is set to travel faster/farther. This factor should help the batters. Now, if you look down on the pitch, it is interesting to note that 9 wickets have come via pacers hitting the good length area, with 8 scalps via back-of-a-length bowling.

An indicator that the pace bowlers would eye the good length area with the new ball in order to extract a bit of movement before pulling their lengths back slightly. Hidden beneath that maxim is the threat posed by the tall pace bowlers of GT – Kagiso Rabada, Jason Holder, Prasidh Krishna, alongside Mohammed Siraj’s new-ball skills. Simply put, GT have the required artillery to make regular incisions in Dharamshala.

Can RCB’s batting unit negate the threat of GT’s ‘tall boys club’? Will GT’s set template at the top of the order help them set a sizeable target if they are batting first? What about the toss factor? Instead of imagining endless questions, it is time to sit back and wait for the match to commence between two formidable sides but with vastly different strengths.

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