It's do-or-die scenario for Challengers

Kohli's men run into the formidable Gujarat Lions in crucial encounter

The weather forecast for Saturday’s IPL match here predicts scattered thunderstorms, something that aptly describes Royal Challengers Bangalore’s performance this season -- with every thunderous stride forward, Virat Kohli’s men have taken two steps backwards.

Wednesday’s six-wicket hammering at the hands of Mumbai Indians, who now have an enviable 6-1 win-loss record against Royal Challengers at the Chinnaswamy stadium, has brought them to a brink from where they can’t afford a loss in their remaining four matches. RCB’s mission starts with their return match against Gujarat Lions who will miss the services of their skipper Suresh Raina, away in the Netherlands to be with his pregnant wife. This would be the first instance of Raina missing an IPL match since its inception.

Challengers’ struggles with the ball have been well documented and no amount of changing and chopping seemed to have fixed the problem. Their much-hyped replacement for Mitchell Starc, England’s Chris Jordan, has been anything but a death-over specialist that he has been touted to be. The all-rounder has struggled to get his range and rhythm, leaking plenty of runs both up front and in the slog overs. It remains to be seen if RCB stick with the English bowler or bring back Aussie pacer Kane Richardson.

Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has come into his own, providing the side with crucial breakthroughs but RCB could do with some level of consistency from Shane Watson. While the Australian all-rounder has largely been quiet with the bat, he has blown hot and cold with the ball. Surprisingly, Varun Aaron has been effective while Stuart Binny has been sparingly used.

Despite their lowest total (151/4) of the season against MI in their previous match, RCB’s batting will remain their strength. After twin failures, Orange Cap holder Kohli will be determined to make amends while Chris Gayle is due for a big one. While there is weight in the idea behind pushing Gayle to the middle order especially in the light of successful combination of Kohli-KL Rahul at the top, his lack of urgency while running between the wickets could discourage team’s think tank from taking that step. In any case, Rahul has proved adept at scoring even in the middle order. Sachin Baby has been a real plus and AB de Villiers needs to prolong his stints.

Not unlike RCB, Lions too bank heavily on their batting though they have more variety in their attack. Brendon McCullum, who is likely to lead in the absence of Raina, and Dwayne Smith took the game away from the Bengaluru outfit when the two sides met last time with a stinging assault at the top of the order. Removing the two batsmen early will be critical to RCB’s prospects. Dinesh Karthik has lent solidity to the middle order while pushing Aaron Finch down has afforded them more depth and firepower. All-rounders Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja are yet come to party with the bat and they have been no more than handy with the ball. It’s the canny Praveen Kumar and Dhawal Kulkarni who have shouldered the bowling while left-arm chinaman Shivil Kaushik has added some mystery to the pack.

The Chinnaswamy surface appeared to be a little kind to the bowlers in the previous match but that will hardly discourage teams from backing themselves to chase any total. RCB bowlers need to be more disciplined against rampaging Lions if they have to stay in contention for a play-offs berth while the visitors would, more or less, look to seal a place in the final four with their eighth win.