<p><strong>IPL 5 – Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kings XI Punjab - Preview</strong></p>
<p>Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will be up against Kings XI Punjab today, in the 44<sup>th</sup> fixture of the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.</p>
<p>RCB is currently placed at the fifth spot on the points table with nine points after as many matches. Whereas, Kings XI is presently recovering from a dismal campaign and has eight points after nine encounters, but Adam Gilchrist and company are still at
the eighth position.</p>
<p>On paper, RCB is surely going to start the match as favourites but cricket can be highly unpredictable at times, and considering the recent form shown by Gilchrist’s men, one can expect an upset.</p>
<p>RCB has a number of players, who have the ability to change the course of a match within a short span of time. However, this has led to a strange headache for RCB’s management because they desperately want to play Muttiah Muralitharan to support a weak bowling
attack, but are not able to do so as it is extremely hard to drop players like Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers or Tillakaratne Dilshan.</p>
<p>Daniel Vettori, the skipper of the franchise made it clear last night that his team is not looking for experimentation in the coming matches and will most probably stick to the combination they have developed in the last few games.</p>
<p>The former Kiwi captain is very optimistic about his team’s chances of qualifying for the play-off stage of the tournament.</p>
<p>"We are fifth on the points table. If we win next four to five games we will qualify for semis. So I don't think there is a need for experimentation for games coming up. We would like to continue guys who have been doing a good job," said Vettori.</p>
<p>RCB has an immensely strong batting line-up but it has struggled in the bowling department, which is quite surprising as the franchise has the services of people like Zaheer Khan, Vinay Kumar and Vettori himself.</p>
<p>Most of the teams in the cash-rich league have powerful batting line-ups and if RCB is eyeing to win the tournament, it must raise its game with the ball.</p>
<p>Kings XI, on the other hand, are boosted by the arrival of Australia’s premier fast bowler, Ryan Harris. It remains a question mark whether Gilchrist will play today’s fixture or not as the wicketkeeper/batsman is struggling with an injured hamstring. </p>
<p>Gilchrist, who also happens to be the coach of the team, admitted that RCB has a very strong batting line-up. He especially mentioned the young right-handed batsman, Virat Kohli, who has been out of form this season. The Kings XI skipper feels that Kohli
is hungry for runs and his bowlers should be very careful. </p>
<p>He expressed, "There are many RCB players who can take the game away from us. Virat is on the course to be one of the best players in the world. He will be very keen to do well in this IPL. Certainly he is a dangerous player."</p>
<p>The track at Bangalore is usually a flat one and the visiting team’s bowlers will have to be at the top of their game to restrict RCB. Gilchrist’s men can tilt the balance of the match in their favour if they can pick up Chris Gayle’s wicket early in the
innings.</p>
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