Steve Smith’s RR have won the toss and elected to bat first in Dubai vs Virat Kohli’s RCB.
Smith says his XI is unchanged but Virat has made two changes bringing in batsman Gurkeerat Singh Mann to replace pace bowler Mohammed Siraj. Bengal left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed replaces all-rounder Shivam Dube.
“This pitch looks a lot better than what we had in Sharjah. We would have batted first as well,” said RCB captain Virat Kohli.
Playing XIs
Rajasthan Royals: Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (WK), Steven Smith (Capt), Sanju Samson, Robin Uthappa, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Aaron Finch, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (Capt), AB de Villiers (WK), Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Washington Sundar, Chris Morris, Shahbaz Ahmed, Isuru Udana, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal.
RCB come into the game placed third in the IPL league standings despite having lost to Kings XI Punjab by 8 wickets in their previous outing.
RCB tinkered with the batting line-up against Punjab and it backfired completely. An in-form AB de Villiers was demoted to number six while Shivam Dube was promoted up the order.
On the other hand, the Steve Simth-led RR are languishing at the seventh position on the points table with six points. The side boasts of a strong batting line-up. They come into the match on the heels of a defeat to Delhi Capitals. Smith, Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler have failed to keep the momentum going. Samson and Smith were clinical in their two outings earlier in Sharjah but a change in venue also saw a dip in their form.
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