Following Sunday’s heartbreak, KL Rahul and co. will hope to get their first points of the 2020 Dream11 Indian Premier League when they play the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday at the Dubai International Stadium. Virat Kohli’s team got off to a winning start to their season, beating the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their opening game and would hope to keep that winning momentum going come Thursday. 

Aamne Saamne

 The two teams are level in their head-to-head record, but it was RCB who emerged victorious in the last two encounters between these franchises. The five-time IPL finalists would be confident after their opening win and will look to continue that unbeaten streak. Kings XI Punjab however have historically always started the tournament well and have won on most occasions when they faced RCB early on in the group stages. 

Batting de Baadshah

Mayank Agarwal was the star of the show for KXIP in their opening game, and did exceptionally well to almost give the team a win despite the score reading 55/5 at one point. Anil Kumble and the rest of the Kings XI management would hope for Agarwal to build on this good start to the tournament when he faces his former team, and would be optimistic for KL Rahul, Glenn Maxwell and the rest of the top order to pull their weight. 

Devdutt Padikkal was terribly impressive on his IPL debut against the Sunrisers, getting a stylish half century. Unafraid to play his shots and brimming with confidence, Padikkal will be a definite threat along with the rest of that RCB top-order of Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. KXIP bowlers therefore would have their task cut out against this star studded top-order and would hope to replicate a performance akin to the one against Delhi Capitals. 

Bowling de Kings

Mohammed Shami registered his best ever figures in the IPL in the game against Delhi Capitals, picking up 3/15. His extra bounce and swing was aided by the pitch conditions of Dubai, and caused all sorts of problems to the Capitals top-order. With the RCB game being played at the same venue, Shami would be hopeful for another good outing. 

Yuzvendra Chahal turned the game around with his leg spin against the Sunrisers, picking up the wickets of Jonny Bairstow, Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar. He has the lynchpin of the sometimes erratic RCB bowling attack, and it would be interesting to see how the KXIP batsman tackle the leg spinner. 

Mudde di Baat

They are two sides who started the competition in contrasting fashions, with RCB winning their opening game while KXIP lost in the Super Over against Delhi. In a big competition like the IPL, it is important, picking up momentum early on will be key so RCB will look to get two wins on the trot while KXIP look to get their first points on the table. While this may still be early days in the competition, the result on Thursday could have ripple effects on how both sides fare going forward in the competition. 

Yaad Rakhiyo

• Chris Gayle scored 99* against RCB in one of the games last season in the IPL.
• Mayank Agarwal has three fifties in his last six IPL games, and only one score below 25 in that period. 
• Since the start of the 2018 season, Virat Kohli has been dismissed by a leg spinner six times in the IPL. 

Probable XI

KL Rahul (c & wk), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Glenn Maxwell, Mandeep Singh, Jimmy Neesham, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ravi Bishnoi, Sheldon Cottrell, Mohammed Shami, Ishan Porel.   

The pitch in Dubai favoured seam bowling in the previous game, and KXIP therefore would want to stick to their three fast bowlers and one spinner policy. Chris Jordan had a poor outing last time around, and could make way for Jimmy Neesham, who can provide some stability to the middle-order as well. A change in opening can also be expected with Chris Gayle stepping in for countryman Nicholas Pooran. 

NOTE: The aforementioned line-up is an educated guess at best, and the final decision rests with the captain and the team management depending on various external factors.