Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the toss – skipper Rajat Patidar stuck the opposition in, figuring that chasing will “give us a better idea about the pitch”. Early look at the strip showed hardly any grass, so no surprise really.
The home side were forced into one change. Phil Salt’s sore groin ruled him out and left-hander Jacob Bethell stepped up. Because Bethell wasn’t in the original bowling XI, he’ll appear as the Impact Player during the chase – a handy way round the rules that, frankly, everyone is still getting used to.
Gujarat Titans shuffled too. Jason Holder replaced Glenn Phillips and left-arm spinner Manav Suthar came in for Ashok Sharma. It’s Holder’s first match for the franchise, and Shubman Gill was pleased to have the extra height and experience. “Jason’s control at the death could be useful on a smaller ground,” the Titans captain said in the lead-up.
For context, both square boundaries sit at 61 metres, while straight down the ground it stretches to 74 metres – dimensions that normally scream six-fest, even if Gill’s men generally win without peppering the stands.
Playing XIs
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Dar. Impact options: Jacob Bethell, Jordan Cox, Mangesh Yadav, Vicky Ostwal, Venkatesh Iyer.
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), B Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Washington Sundar, Jason Holder, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj. Impact options: Prasidh Krishna, Anuj Rawat, Glenn Phillips, Nishant Sindhu, Arshad Khan.
Both sides keep a deep bench of seam options, but the dry surface might still bring the finger-spinners into play later on. Either way, we’re set for another frantic evening at Chinnaswamy – and not just because the boundaries feel alarmingly close.
