April 12: Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, 22nd match, DY Patil Stadium
Safe XI: Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa, Virat Kohli (vice-capt), Glenn Maxwell, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali, Wanindu Hasaranga (capt), Dwayne Bravo, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Siraj, Chris Jordan
The Sri Lankan spin wizard has been a terrific wicket-taker wherever he has played so far and IPL is no different. He is the leading wicket-taker for Royal Challengers this season with eight wickets in four games. In his last 14 T20 appearances, he has picked up 19 wickets at an economy rate of 7.50.
Kohli might not be putting up big scores in recent times, but he has done very well to be among the top performing players. Since 2021 in IPL, he has recorded scores of 25 or more in 11 of his 19 appearances. His recent scores against Super Kings are 53, 8, 50 and 90*.
Hot pick
Moeen Ali: Moeen has done well to replace Super Kings’ Suresh Raina at the No. 3 position, scoring 35 (22) and 48 (35) apart from his duck against Punjab Kings. He has been a consistent scorer for Super Kings in India especially, as he has recorded scores of 25 or more in seven of his last nine outings.
Differential picks
Josh Hazlewood: Placed second in ICC’s T20I rankings for bowlers, Hazlewood missed the earlier games for Royal Challengers after arriving late from Pakistan. Since 2021 in T20Is, he has picked up a staggering 31 wickets in 18 games at an average of 14.22 and an economy rate of 6.61.
High Risk XI: Anuj Rawat, Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, Faf du Plessis (capt), Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammad Siraj (vice-capt), Akash Deep, Maheesh Theekshana
Source: ESPN Crickinfo