Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) KL Rahul won the toss and elected to field first. Rahul did not make any changes to his playing eleven against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai. On the other hand, RCB skipper did not make any changes to the winning combination either.
“At this stage all teams like to chase. The game as we know can go up and down. Got a couple of first ball ducks and then a hundred. It's good to keep my game on the toes. Coming into the game excited wanting to do well for my team,” Rahul said after winning the toss.
“It's been a great start for us (this season). Guys are playing well. Playing against a strong team tonight. If I won the toss, I would have surprised you by bowling first (smiles),” the RCB skipper said.
Ahead of the game, former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri said that the team winning this game will surely advance to the playoffs.
LSG XI: KL Rahul(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Manish Pandey, Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Jason Holder, Dushmantha Chameera, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi
RCB XI: Faf du Plessis(c), Anuj Rawat, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Suyash Prabhudessai, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik(w), Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Siraj
Ahead of the game, RCB's slog overs specialist Harshal Patel lauded in-form Dinesh Karthik along with former and current skipper.
“The mood is very good in the team. It's a team sport and in all our six games different individuals have stepped up with DK as an exception, he has played well every game… Virat is energetic and Faf is slightly calm, but the philosophy of the leadership is the seam. They both lead by example and they keep backing the players no matter what and the focus is always on the process,” Harshal said before the toss.
LSG and RCB are placed third and fourth respectively on the points table with four wins each from six games.
