Virat Kohli's return to form and a rather dramatic entry into the IPL play-offs will make Royal Challengers Bangalore a more confident unit when they meet a top-heavy Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator here on Wednesday.
After a string of low scores, Kohli found his rhythm enroute to a scintillating 54-ball 73 in their last match against Gujarat Titans. This was his only second fifty this season.
Kohli's return to form will be a big plus to their top-order which often has struggled to get going in the power-play.
Add Dinesh Karthik's new-found finishing exploits, a quality pace trio in Josh Hazlewood, Wanindu Hasaranga and Harshal Patel who would look to embrace the seam-friendly Eden conditions, and Faf du Plessis's calm and astute captaincy, RCB will be upbeat in their quest of an elusive IPL title.
Having featured in three IPL finals, RCB are one star-studded outfit which has failed to live up to its fans' expectations time and again. But this time under a three-time IPL winner in du Plessis, RCB look more balanced especially on the pace bowling front.
RCB's experience in batting certainly will weigh heavily against the young LSG pace attack of Avesh Khan and Mohsin Khan.
Lucknow also have the experienced duo of Jason Holder and Dushmanta Chameera but they have been inconsistent this season, something that can be a cause of concern for the KL Rahul-led outfit. A key battle for RCB would be against the Lucknow Super Giants opening duo of K L Rahul and Quinton de Kock — by far the best opening pair of this IPL — sitting pretty on second and third places in the top run getters' list.
But this also will be the team's weakness as the Lucknow franchise lacks a quality middle and lower order, barring Deepak Hooda who has four half-centuries this season.
The likes of Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Ayush Badoni and Holder have failed to impress and it's high time that they get into their acts in a virtual quarter-final.