IPL 2024 Clash: RCB vs KKR - Virat Kohli, Andre Russell Key Players as Teams Eye Momentum

Kolkata travel to Bengaluru to play their second group stage game of the Indian Premier League 2024 season. Gautam Gambhir and co. Arriving in Bengaluru with a sensational arsenal of bowlers, the home team will look to break through this season. Playing at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, KKR will back their veteran stars Sunil Narine and Andre Russell to deliver against the batting power of Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell.

Out of the 9 matches played in the first week of the Indian Premier League, all of them have been won by the home teams. KKR escaped defeat at the Eden Gardens in their tournament opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad and will be hoping to dominate things a bit more this time around. The focus will be on the Caribbean duo of Russell and Narine, who have once again become the heroes of the franchise. While Russell played a knock for the ages with 64* off just 25 balls, Narine bowled a spell of 4-0-19-1 in a match total of 412 runs.

Faf du Plessis' Bengaluru, on the other hand, will look to make the most of the home court advantage. They will also be keen to have Glenn Maxwell and Rajat Patidar return to form. RCB's biggest asset could once again be Virat Kohli, who played a brilliant innings of 77 runs against Punjab Kings to lead the team to victory. After the game, Kohli said that he is not done yet and will try to rekindle the fire once again.

Gambhir VS Kohli on the cards?
RCB vs KKR: Head-to-head

Kolkata and Bengaluru have played 32 matches between them with KKR slightly ahead by a margin of 18-14. But more importantly, playing at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, KKR have fared better than Bengaluru and have won 7 of the 11 matches played between the two sides.

RCB vs KKR: Team News

Both KKR and RCB will be happy with how some of their players performed. After their loss in the opening game, RCB's Virat Kohli and Yash Dayal put in a truly superstar performance in their match against Punjab Kings and pulled the game back from a disadvantageous position.

On the other hand, KKR will be very happy with their veteran Caribbean duo Sunil Narine and Andre Russell putting up two brilliant performances in their epic win against Hyderabad.

RCB vs KKR: Bengaluru pitch condition

Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch was not a run of the mill flat batting track. The pitch was sticky and it was difficult for the bowlers to remove the bowlers easily. If the deck plays like this, KKR are likely to be in a much better position than Bengaluru. KKR's sensational bowling attack could be the only point of difference in Bengaluru on Friday evening.

RCB vs KKR: Predicted XI
RCB Predicted XI: Faf du Plessis (C), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat (in wicket), Mayank Dagar, Alzari Joseph, Mohammad Siraj, Yash Dayal

Impact Player: Mahipal Lomror

KKR Predicted XI: Phil Salt (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakraborty