Royal Challengers Bangalore look to get back to winning ways

Bengaluru : Staring at elimination after an inexplicable batting collapse followed by a wash-out, Royal Challengers Bangalore will be aiming for revival when they clash against out-of-sorts Gujarat Lions in an IPL match here on Thursday.
The Bangalore outfit will have to win all its remaining six matches to keep alive the hopes of making the knockouts.
With the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad called off here without a ball being bowled due to rain last night, Bangalore had to share a point.

They now have just five points from eight games and are lying sixth in the points table. Come Thursday, it will be an arduous task for Virat Kohli and Co. after being dismissed for a meagre 49 -- the lowest ever total in the history of IPL -- against Kolkata Knight Riders. During that disastrous outing at the Eden Gardens, none of RCB's 11 batsmen could get to double figures.

RCB's 'Big Three' -- skipper Virat Kohli (154 from 4 matches), Chris Gayle (144 from 5 games) and AB de Villiers (145 from 4 games) -- have been inconsistent so far. For India captain Kohli, it will be difficult to digest the fact that RCB can be out of the tournament before the knock-out phase. However, they would fancy their chances against an out- of-form Gujarat Lions, who have gathered just four points from seven games and are languishing at the bottom of the table.

The Lions batting has also been quite dismal with big guns making contributions only intermittently and would be desperate to arrest this slide.It would be interesting to see if Irfan Pathan, roped in as a replacement for injured Dwayne Bravo would be included in the playing XI.

By B D Narayankar