Toss Royal Challengers Bangalore chose to bat v Gujarat Lions
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Yuzvendra Chahal returned for RCB in a spin-heavy bowling attack © BCCI
Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli won the toss for the first time in IPL 2016 and opted to bat. Kohli explained that the pitch looked somewhat dry and he expected his spinners to play an important role in defending the total.
Other considerations may have included the afternoon heat, with temperatures reaching 38 degrees centigrade, and the fact that Royal Challengers have defended successfully twice in the tournament so far.
Both sides have boosted their spin bowling stocks. Gujarat Lions brought in Shadab Jakati and Dwayne Smith for Akshdeep Nath and Dale Steyn. Royal Challengers brought in Yuzvendra Chahal and Kedar Jadhav for Harshal Patel and KL Rahul.
After the toss, it emerged that Mandeep Singh had injured himself during practice and KL Rahul was to take his place in the team. This would presumably be with the consent of Lions captain Suresh Raina.
Gujarat Lions Aaron Finch, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina (capt), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Dwayne Smith, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Praveen Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Shadab Jakati, Pravin Tambe
Royal Challengers Bangalore Virat Kohli (capt), AB de Villiers, Shane Watson, KL Rahul, Sarfraz Khan, Kedar Jadhav (wk), Stuart Binny, Iqbal Abdulla, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kane Richardson, Tabraiz Shamsi
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo