<p>Fans have literally burnt the midnight oil to grab a hold of tickets for Royal Challengers Bangalore’s games at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Some have even splurged several times the standard price in the black market to catch a glimpse of their stars with all four games being sell-outs. </p>.<p>The ones who’ve managed to snake through the turnstiles will admit they’ve had their money's worth, thanks to the surface tailor-made for T20 cricket producing absolute bangers. Four times teams have surpassed 200 and no total has looked safe in the compact ground with bowlers reduced to mere sideshows. Sunday afternoon could be no different when power-packed Rajasthan Royals come calling as the league hits the halfway mark and the race for the playoffs slowly starts gathering pace.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/sports/cricket/mohammed-siraj-reports-corrupt-approach-to-bcci-acu-1211018.html" target="_blank">Mohammed Siraj reports corrupt approach to BCCI ACU</a></strong></p>.<p>Royal Challengers will yet again be banking on the trio of Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell to do the bulk of the scoring. The 38-year-old evergreen Du Plessis, who only plays franchise cricket now, has showcased a different dimension to his batting. Unlike in the past where he would slowly switch gears as the innings progressed, the South African has been striking the ball cleanly right from the get-go, scoring 343 runs and a brilliant strike rate of 166.50.</p>.<p>Maxwell, returning from injury, has started to find his mojo after a tepid start. He and Du Plessis almost threatened to surpass Chennai Super Kings’ 226/6 a week ago, the Australian laying siege to the bowlers like only he can. Maxwell (176 runs) too has been striking close to 200 and RCB will be hoping for another cracker from the ‘Big Show’.</p>.<p>A worry for Challengers though is the inability of Kohli to enforce the issue once Powerplay ends. The former skipper has scored 279 runs but the strike rate of 142.34 isn’t helping the team’s cause especially at a venue where even 200 is considered chaseable.</p>.<p>Opening with Du Plessis, Kohli is good at the start but once the field spreads out and spinners come on, he’s struggled to up the tempo. Kohli will be hoping for some course correction on Sunday. With Rajasthan possessing two world-class spinners in R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal — a former RCB player — things will only get difficult for Kohli.</p>.<p>Another worry for the Challengers is the poor form of the middle order. Dinesh Karthik, Shahbaz Ahmed and Mahipal Lomror have looked woeful in the limited time they’ve got in the middle. The lack of a brutal finisher, often RCB’s bane, is back. Sadly, the lack of options means RCB simply have to hope for the trio to find form.</p>.<p>Rajasthan will be licking their lips at the chance to play at Chinnaswamy. In Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer, they have one of the most intimidating batting line-ups and the quartet will be eager to come out guns blazing. Devdutt Padikkal, struggling for form, will relish a return to his home turf to get some much-needed rhythm.</p>.<p>The pitch wore a flat look on match eve and judging by its history, there will be plenty of runs on offer. </p>
<p>Fans have literally burnt the midnight oil to grab a hold of tickets for Royal Challengers Bangalore’s games at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Some have even splurged several times the standard price in the black market to catch a glimpse of their stars with all four games being sell-outs. </p>.<p>The ones who’ve managed to snake through the turnstiles will admit they’ve had their money's worth, thanks to the surface tailor-made for T20 cricket producing absolute bangers. Four times teams have surpassed 200 and no total has looked safe in the compact ground with bowlers reduced to mere sideshows. Sunday afternoon could be no different when power-packed Rajasthan Royals come calling as the league hits the halfway mark and the race for the playoffs slowly starts gathering pace.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/sports/cricket/mohammed-siraj-reports-corrupt-approach-to-bcci-acu-1211018.html" target="_blank">Mohammed Siraj reports corrupt approach to BCCI ACU</a></strong></p>.<p>Royal Challengers will yet again be banking on the trio of Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell to do the bulk of the scoring. The 38-year-old evergreen Du Plessis, who only plays franchise cricket now, has showcased a different dimension to his batting. Unlike in the past where he would slowly switch gears as the innings progressed, the South African has been striking the ball cleanly right from the get-go, scoring 343 runs and a brilliant strike rate of 166.50.</p>.<p>Maxwell, returning from injury, has started to find his mojo after a tepid start. He and Du Plessis almost threatened to surpass Chennai Super Kings’ 226/6 a week ago, the Australian laying siege to the bowlers like only he can. Maxwell (176 runs) too has been striking close to 200 and RCB will be hoping for another cracker from the ‘Big Show’.</p>.<p>A worry for Challengers though is the inability of Kohli to enforce the issue once Powerplay ends. The former skipper has scored 279 runs but the strike rate of 142.34 isn’t helping the team’s cause especially at a venue where even 200 is considered chaseable.</p>.<p>Opening with Du Plessis, Kohli is good at the start but once the field spreads out and spinners come on, he’s struggled to up the tempo. Kohli will be hoping for some course correction on Sunday. With Rajasthan possessing two world-class spinners in R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal — a former RCB player — things will only get difficult for Kohli.</p>.<p>Another worry for the Challengers is the poor form of the middle order. Dinesh Karthik, Shahbaz Ahmed and Mahipal Lomror have looked woeful in the limited time they’ve got in the middle. The lack of a brutal finisher, often RCB’s bane, is back. Sadly, the lack of options means RCB simply have to hope for the trio to find form.</p>.<p>Rajasthan will be licking their lips at the chance to play at Chinnaswamy. In Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer, they have one of the most intimidating batting line-ups and the quartet will be eager to come out guns blazing. Devdutt Padikkal, struggling for form, will relish a return to his home turf to get some much-needed rhythm.</p>.<p>The pitch wore a flat look on match eve and judging by its history, there will be plenty of runs on offer. </p>
