IPL 2018: Match 24, Player Battles – Virat Kohli vs Dwayne Bravo

The South Indian Derby between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore resumes after two years as the two teams set to lock their horns in Bangalore. This will be the first time Virat Kohli takes on a team led by MS Dhoni since becoming the Indian captain in all formats. Super Kings have won four of the five matches they played including three that went down to the wire. RCB, on the other hand, have won both their games at home with AB de Villiers scoring fifties.

Virat Kohli is currently at No.4 in the leading run-getters list of the 2018 season with 231 runs in five innings. However, his contributions have not reflected into Royal Challengers Bangalore’s result as his unbeaten 92 against MI and 57 against RR came in the losing cause. The determined RCB skipper will hope to score more in winning cause with a bit of luck on his way. Kohli departed for 21 in the game against KXIP as a superb delivery from Mujeeb ur Rahman cleaned him up while a Trent Boult special at the boundary saw him getting out for 30 against DD.

Kohli would like to finish such games on his own instead of leaving it to the batsmen following after him. The game against CSK will be a crucial one for RCB not only in the view of their future in the tournament. The Bangalore franchise would like to gain confidence by defeating the inform CSK who troubled them in the past. Virat Kohli will look to make a count of his past record against CSK as he scored a total of 706 runs against them in the IPL.

Virat Kohli vs Dwayne Bravo:

RCB could well find tough times against the CSK bowling attack if the Chinnaswamy once again produces a sluggish track. Slow bowlers found some assistance in two of the three matches played at this venue in this season so far. Chennai Super Kings are loaded with quality spinners and pacers who fire in the slower balls more often. Dwayne Bravo could turn deadly on such track against whom Virat Kohli was always amongst runs. Kohli scored a total of 130 runs against Bravo in the IPL but never got out to him in the 87 balls he faced.

(Stats as on April 24, 2018)