Key match stats
Pitch Stats – IPL records at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium
Pitch stats from the 10 most recent IPL matches played at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium
Team form SRH vs RCB
SRH: LWWWW
RCB: LLLLL
Recent meetings: SRH won by 25 runs
Weather
General Forecast: Dry and clear
Chance of dew: Low
Preview SRH vs RCB
What a difference a year makes!
At the half way mark of last season, Sunrisers were languishing at the bottom of the IPL table with just 2 wins from their first 7 games. The team lacked balance and quality in almost every area but most notably they had no leadership on or off the pitch capable of directing them back towards success.
The individual players within the current SRH squad have certainly upped their game compared to recent IPL seasons. However, the real credit for Hyderabad's rebirth has to go to Daniel Vettori and Pat Cummins for instilling a belief in this side that has not been apparent for many years now.
How long can SRH continue to ride the wave? We'll see. There are still definite areas of their game that need improving but for now the coach and captain have got them playing to their strengths.
By comparison, RCB look to have taken several backward steps from this time last year. Where other franchises have managed to build on their strengths and mitigate against their weaknesses, RCB have unravelled to the point that they look well behind the standards of the top sides in 2024.
They are, for all intensive purposes, already out of this year's IPL. Even if they were to somehow turn things around and win every remaining game in the round robin it would not likely be enough. How then do they approach the remainder of the season?
The added difficulty with motivating the Bengaluru players for the remainder of the season comes as a result of the impending Super Auction. The majority of the RCB squad will not be there next season come what may. For individual players then, the only motivation they can have is to put themselves in the shop window for 7 months time.
RCB supporters might also feel a little aggrevied with the way that the fixtures have fallen this season. Away matches in Chennai and Mumbai were always going to be tough. Outside of that the only team not currently in top 4 that they've played so far is PBKS (their only win)! RCB would still expect significantly better and of course if you want to be the best you have to beat the best.
The last couple of games have seen RCB get into slogging matches with KKR and SRH, probably the 2 most powerful batting units in the tournament and just come out behind. They had a great chance to overhaul KKR's total at Eden Gardens on Sunday but suffered the kind of brain fade that only a side in their position can.
Beyond that it raises the question once again about how this RCB side wins if Virat Kohli is not at the crease to do it for them? This is not a problem that is only just manifesting itself for RCB, it's one that they've endured for the last decade. If RCB really wanted to test the mettle of a few of their squad ahead of the super auction, the best thing they could do is rest Kohli and see who stands up to be counted.
SRH RCB head to head
RCB bowling vs SRH batting
Let's try and find the silver linings for this RCB attack - they did bowl well in the powerplay to Sunil Narine in their last match. Unfortunately they forgot about planning for Phil Salt at the other end who got KKR off to a flier.
Head head to head Ferguson T20 cricket
They now face a similar challenge against this SRH opening pair who are absolutely flying at the moment. What is the plan to stop Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma?
In the last game between these 2 sides, RCB's pace bowlers generally looked to bowl back of a length to Head and/or not offer him any width. Unfortunately, it's a bit of a predictable ploy that we've seen teams in Test Match cricket use (I don't think England pitched a ball in Head's half during the recent Ashes) and with short boundaries and fielding restrictions, it doesn't look likely to succeed in the T20 game.
Abhishek Sharma head to head vs right-arm finger spin
Last week, Will Jacks bowled 2 good overs in the powerplay to the SRH's 2 left-handers before RCB overplayed their hand and offered him a 3rd over that got smashed. The match-up on paper looks like a good one but don't expect Abhishek Sharma in particular to let Jacks get away with 12 balls for 14 runs again while the fielders are in.
Alzarri Joseph IPL record Rajiv Gandi Stadium
Ultimately, RCB's bowlers just look shell shocked at the moment coming off the back of 4 matches where they have conceded almost 900 runs at an economy rate of 12 an over! Alzarri Joseph once delivered a magical spell of bowling at this ground (6 for 12) on his IPL debut. You get the feeling that SRH might need a surprise performance of similar to proportions to avoid getting hit around the Rajiv Gandhi tonight.
SRH bowling vs RCB batting
Speaking of individual performances at the Rajiv Gandhi stadium, Virat Kohli struck a century here last season having scored 50s on his 2 previous visits to Hyderabad with the India T20 squad.
Virat Kohli Rajiv Gandhi IPL record
The SRH bowling attack certainly gets to benefit from the the success of their batting unit. They've won 4 out of 5 matches batting first this season with the single loss against GT the only time that they've failed to put an above par total on the board.
RCB then need to find a way to put a bit more pressure on this SRH bowling attack and see how it fares. Batting first would be the obvious answer and with little chance of dew impacting the game later on, I would expect RCB to do just that if they're given the chance.
Targeting the powerplay is the other key consideration. RCB can't allow SRH to bring on a part-time left-arm spinner to quell Kohli and du Plessis or simply allow Bhuvi to bowl 3 overs for 25 runs.
If that means upsetting a couple of the big egos currently at the top of the order then given their current situation I think that's what they'll need to do. Let's be frank, Faf du Plessis is almost certainly not going to be at RCB this time next year. Benguluru have the opportunity to play around with a few strategies ahead of a super auction where they must stop making the same old errors in selection that have seen them so consistently underachieve in the IPL.