IPL 2024 RCB vs SRH Preview - Beware the mini-auction!

Key match stats

Pitch Stats – M Chinnaswamy IPL records

Pitch stats from the 10 most recent IPL matches played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium

Team form RCB vs SRH

RCB:WLLLL
SRH:LWLWW

Recent meetings: IPL 2023 - RCB won by 8 wickets

Weather

General Forecast: Dry and Clear
Chance of dew: Moderate

Preview RCB vs SRH

IPL mini-auctions need to be approached with care as both these franchises can testify to in recent years.

SRH have been attempting to arrest a string of poor seasons via the mini-auction for the last few years. Despite which, it's only this season where they can really claim to have landed upon a formula that appears to put them in with a chance of the playoffs, although we should probably wait until the end of the month before rushing to judgment on that one.

Conversely, RCB have been very consistent over that same period with 3 playoff appearances in a row from 2020 to 2022, before narrowly missing out again last season. Their response to that slight dip in performance? Scrap the bulk of their bowling attack and attempt to rebuild it through the mini-auction. On current form, that looks to have been a catastrophic error in judgment.

Of course, things might have been different had they have left themselves a bit more cash to carry out the rebuild. RCB were very keen on Pat Cummins but having blown a substantial amount of funds on fellow Aussie Cameron Green, they were comfortably outbid by the Sunrisers who got not only some much needed leadership but also one of the best bowlers of the tournament to date.

It'll be interesting to see how Cummins and co. go on the pitch at the M Chinnaswamy. There are very few bowlers in the history of the tournament that have found it easy to stem the flow of runs here on what is usually a good surface with short boundaries. Indeed, a few of RCB's bowlers from 2023 might feel they were thrown under the bus for their performances last year given that context.

RCB captain, Faf du Plessis, again bemoaned the loss of the toss in a game were dew did fall in the 2nd innings. However, the margin of victory was such that Bengaluru can't just keep relying on the toss of a coin or the variables of the weather to excuse their performances - they were absolutely battered at the Wankhede last week!

Du Plessis himself scratched out a 40 ball 61 which in the context of the last couple of matches played at the Wankhede was a criminal waste of the powerplay and beyond. Credit to Patidar and Karthik for upping the ante thereafter but RCB needed a score of at least 220 to stand any chance of victory. Glenn Maxwell's horror run continues, he now has 3 ducks for the season and an overall average of 5!

Meanwhile the signs for SRH continue to look good not least of all because new players are standing up to make match winning contributions. With Head, Abhishek and Klaasen all having a quiet evening, it was young Nitesh Kumar Redy who stole the show with an excellent all-round contribution against PBKS.

Sunrisers will be disappointed that they let things slip towards the back end of Punjab's chase. A 2 run winning margin wasn't a true reflection of their overall dominance in their game. They'll want to avoid similar lapses in concentration in this match, particularly at a ground where fast run scoring at the death is a real possibility and against a batting line-up that will surely find some kind of form sooner or later.

RCB SRH head to head

SRH bowling vs RCB batting

There is certainly nothing in his previous appearances at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium that would suggest Pat Cummins was necessarily the answer to RCB's bowling troubles here last season.

Cummins T20 record at the M Chinnaswamy

Still, he looks like a much improved T20 bowler since we last saw him in the IPL and with these 2 teams meeting twice within the space of 10 days he could really highlight just how poor RCB's recruitment over the close season was with a couple of good performances.

It was clear that RCB and particularly Kohli wanted to dominate Jasprit Bumrah during their match with MI. However, it resulted only in Kohli playing a couple of very un-Kohli like shots before he was eventually dismissed.

Kohli T20 head to head vs Bhuvi

We wait to see whether he or du Plessis will look to do something similar to Bhuvi in this match or remain content to see off SRH's primary new ball threat. Of course, the ongoing issue for RCB is that taking a risk free approach against a danger man is fine but only if you're able to up the scoring later on or target a weaker link in the opposition's attack.

In that regard, SRH are likely to continue to exploit a tactic that several sides have used against RCB this year by introducing a former Royal Challenger, Shahbaz Ahmed, to the attack early on to prey on the fact that neither Kohli nor du Plessis favours match-ups with left-arm spin. Who then do RCB target, is it Bhuvi or is it Shahbaz?

RCB bowling vs SRH batting

Of course, while RCB's top order have been struggling to dominate the powerplay, SRH have regularly gotten off to fliers thanks to Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma and they might fancy their chances against a Bengaluru attack low on confidence.

Travis Head T20 record at the M Chinnaswamy

Travis Head has a bit of prior experience of the pitch conditions here at the M Chinnaswamy as a result of a brief stint with RCB back in 2017. They used him in the middle order, whereas Australia and now SRH have shifted Head to open. He did play a T20 international here in 2023 where he hit the first 3 balls of the innings for boundaries - expect a similarly aggressive approach today!

The real pain point for RCB's attack this season has been their inability to control sides within the middle overs where their economy rate is fast approaching 10 an over. Even prior to the MI match where they got well and truly thrashed around, they were going at over 9 an over so again, this can't just be put down to certain conditions or opposition. RCB lack any quality options in that phase of the game and opposition sides are picking up at least a boundary an over.

RCB middle over bowling stats for IPL 2024

It's also an area of their batting that SRH need to improve on. They've got off to some flying starts and delivered some big hitting at the back end of innings but Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma in particular have been guilty of not carrying those exciting beginnings into the later stages of the innings.

Head and Abhishek combined middle over (overs 7 to 15) batting stats IPL 2024

Only once have either Head or Abhishek made it into the 2nd half of an innings and on that occasion it was Abhishek batting at no. 3, having only come to the crease in the 5th over before being dismissed in the 11th over. With the way these 2 are scoring at present, if one of them can play even a 40 ball knock and bat deeper into the innings then SRH will almost certainly be on for a big total.

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