Last Updated on 4 months by Charbel Coorey

IPL 2021 Match 26: PBKS vs RCB Dream11 Prediction Possible Playing 11 Pitch Report | PBKS vs RCB  Dream11 Prediction Today | Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Punjab Kings | Key Players | Ahemdabad Pitch Report

It’s time for Kohli vs Kumble! Royal Challengers Bangalore will rub shoulders with Punjab Kings for the 26th match of the IPL 2021.

After a one-sided affair against CSK, normalcy resumed for RCB fans. They witnessed another humdinger as their last match against Capitals went down to the wire, and RCB managed to win it by 1 run.

RCB were asked to bat first and they lost their Skipper early, and young Padikkal soon followed him. After that Maxwell combined with Patidar to give some momentum to RCB innings and then Mr. 360 came and blew Capitals away with an absolute masterclass off 75 runs from 42 balls. The brilliant ABD took RCB to 171 in their full quota of 20 overs. 

Defending a total of 171 runs, RCB bowlers started with pinpoint accuracy and picked the crucial wickets of Shikhar Dhawan and Steven Smith early. From there on, contributions from Pant, Stonis, and Hetmyer took Delhi close but could not finish off in the end. It was the death bowling of Mohammed Sirah that was most impressive, holding his nerve to seal victory for RCB.

Punjab Kings, on the other hand, have lost 4 of their 6 matches and their think-tank has plenty to do in their next two matches or it might be too late for them. In their previous match, none of the batters got going and they could just manage 123 runs for 9 in their 20 overs.

The only thing that will give them confidence into the next match is that four of their players (KL, Mayank, Universe Boss and Moises) have played for RCB in past and have a good record against them.

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Key Players to Watch/Key Stats

Royal Challengers Bangalore

• Virat Kohli –  Super V has a total of 681 runs from 25 innings at an average of 29.6 vs PBKS. However, he has done much better as an opener. While batting first as an opener, he has 233 runs from 6 innings, at an average of 38.8. In 2nd innings as an opener, he has 134 runs at an average of 67 from 3 innings.
• Devdutt Padikkal – Padikkal has 19 runs from 2 innings at an average of 9.5 vs PBKS. However, he has been in solid touch right throughout the domestic season.
• Glenn Maxwell – Big Show is enjoying his time in RCB so far, and he will be up against his previous side. In past, he has just batted twice against Kings and made 12 runs. However, this record doesn’t define a player of Maxwell’s stature. He will be a good pick for this match and a good option to have as C/VC in Grand Leagues. 
• AB de Villiers – Mr.360 has 710 runs from 21 innings at an average of 47.3 vs PBKS. The same average goes up to 57.1 while batting first. Plus, he is in superb form in IPL 2021, and he played a match-winning knock last game vs DC.
• Yuzvendra Chahal – Yuzi has not been at his very best so far but it’s just a matter of time till he gets it right, Against Kings he has done well in past. From 14 innings, he has 22 wickets at an average of 17.3. 
• Mohammed Siraj – Siraj has 2 wickets from 3 innings against Kings. Will Siraj 2.0 show his Miya Magic against Kings? He has been in superb form in recent times.
• Harshal Patel has 6 wickets from 5 innings against PBKS. He has the most wickets in IPL 2021 with 17 in six matches.
• Rajat Patidar’s innings (31 off 22 balls) would have given him plenty of confidence, and he will look to put another good show in coming games.

Punjab Kings

• KL Rahul – KL Struck a century against RCB last year. He was part of RCB camp earlier. Against them he averages 580 runs from 64.4 from 12 innings. 
• Mayank Agarwal – Like his counterpart, Mayank was also part of RCB. He has 202 runs from 9 innings at an average of 22.4. His average goes down to 15.2 while batting second, so he will be after an improvement.
• Chris Gayle – Universe Boss scored a golden duck in the previous match. Against RCB, he has 267 runs from 6 innings at an average of 53.4.  While batting first his average goes upwards to 63.7.
• Moises Henriques – Moises has 3 wickets and 163 runs from 5 innings vs RCB at an average of 40.8. He is one of the most underrated all-rounder going around and his ability with both bat & ball cannot be ignored. He will be a good addition to Grand League Team.
• Nicholas Pooran – Pooran has 69 runs from 3 innings at an average of 34.5. He is still yet to find his best form this season.
• Mohammad Shami – Shami has 9 wickets from 8 innings against RCB.
• Ravi Bishnoi – Bishnoi has 3 wickets from 2 innings against RCB.

Stats and Facts

• Overall Played 26 | RCB Won 12 | PBKS Won 14.
• PBKS have done better while batting second against RCB.
• Arshdeep Singh has played once against RCB and he managed to pick a wicket. 
• Deepak Hooda has just 40 runs from 7 innings against RCB. 
• Daniel Sams– Sams is a quality bowler as he was seen in the recent past in Big Bash. On his day he can outshine anyone, but for some reason he has not got his mojo right in the IPL so far. He has bowled in 4 innings so far in the IPL and he is yet to pick a wicket.

Predicted Playing XI

Washington Sundar has 2 wickets from 4 innings against the Kings. His battle against left-handers Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran could be key.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1. Virat Kohli (c), 2. Devdutt Padikkal, 3. Rajat Patidar, 4. Glenn Maxwell, 5. AB de Villiers (wk), 6. Washington Sundar, 7. Daniel Sams, 8. Kyle Jamieson, 9. Harshal Patel, 10. Yuzvendra Chahal, 11. Mohammed Siraj

Punjab Kings: 1. KL Rahul (c), 2. Mayank Agarwal, 3. Chris Gayle, 4. Deepak Hooda, 5. Nicholas Pooran, 6. Moises Henriques, 7. Shahrukh Khan, 8. Chris Jordan, 9. Mohammed Shami, 10. Ravi Bishnoi, 11. Arshdeep Singh

Ahemdabad Pitch Report

Kevin Pietersen pitch report from DC and KKR match

This looks fairly similar to the surfaces that we have seen here so far. But there’s one point of difference that we will see this evening. There’s grass up to the danger zone and the reason for that is, the groundsmen want to protect the surface. He wants to make sure the bowlers are comfortable whenever they are delivering the ball. One side boundary is just 58 meters. There was the dew factor in game one, and then we had a sandstorm and no dew in the other. So what are the captains going to back? The dew or the sandstorm? We will wait and see!

Dream11 Prediction

Option 1:

Option 2:

Match Prediction

RCB is flying high. Punjab Kings have done slightly better against RCB but in the current scenario, they have to pull something out of the box to beat them. RCB is the favorite to win. 

Written by Shekhar Singh. Follow Shekhar on Twitter today.