Royal Challengers Bangalore received a huge shot in the arm with the news that star batsman AB de Villiers has been declared fit to take the field against Chennai Super Kings in the IPL on Saturday.
Bangalore are still in the danger zone, with just three wins from eight matches. However, with De Villiers back in the team after missing two games due to fever they should have some confidence as they face the Super Kings.
De Villiers’ return has come at the perfect time for Virat Kohli’s team as ABD’s compatriot Quinton de Kock has returned to South Africa to attend a wedding.
“AB is back fit, Quinton is away from this game. Quinton has returned home for a wedding so he is unavailable for this match so probably it’s an easy decision for us to make,” Bangalore head coach Daniel Vettori said on Friday.
The match in Pune will be an opportunity for Chennai Super Kings to strengthen their playoff spot as they have six wins under their belt from nine matches.
Players in focus
Ambati Rayudu has been a revelation for the Super Kings this season. The tournament’s leading run-scorer has scored 391 runs from nine matches with a strike rate of more than 150. Rayudu has been at ease against pace and spin and has become as dangerous a batsman as Shane Watson or even MS Dhoni.
In the RCB camp, all eyes will obviously be on De Villiers. With De Kock not in the team, pressure will be even more on the South African veteran as he not only has to hit the ground running after a bout of fever but also ensure the team ends up on the winning side. Also, their India pace attack of Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Siraj are forming a decent partnership so watch out for them.
Likely line-ups
Chennai Super Kings: Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Harbhajan Singh, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir, Lungi Ngidi, KM Asif
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Parthiv Patel (wk), Brendon McCullum, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Colin de Grandhomme, Washington Sundar, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj
