Kings XI Punjab host Royal Challengers Bangalore in their second match of 2017 Indian Premier League season in Indore on Monday.
The hosts are heading into the match on the back of a comprehensive six-wicket win over Rising Pune Supergiant in their tournament opener. On the other hand, the visitors, who are missing their influential captain Virat Kohli, got back to winning ways on Saturday with a 15-run victory over Delhi Daredevils at home after losing the season opener to defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad.
There seems to be more good news for the visitors' camp as their star batsman AB de Villiers is likely to return to the playing XI after missing the first two matches to injury. With opener Chris Gayle not performing to the best of his abilities, the inclusion of the big-hitting South African batsman is a big boost to their chances today.
Kedar Jadhav has been RCB's best batsman so far and the team would want more from their local stars Mandeep Singh and Stuart Binny against KXIP, who have a solid pace battery, which has the likes of Sandeep Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Marcus Stoinis and T Natarajan.
RCB though will have to decide if they are going to retain Gayle and drop pacer Billy Stanlake, who picked up two wickets for 29 runs in the game against RPS, if De Villiers make the comeback.
On the other hand, KXIP unit looks settled with Glenn Maxwell impressing with his first IPL outing as captain. The Australian all-rounder hit a 20-ball 44 in their win against RPS. The hosts, who are packed with in-form stars, will be a tough nut to crack but RCB have the firepower to snatch two points today.
TV Schedule
India: Sony Max, Sony Six
US: ESPN, Willow TV
UK: Sky Sports
Malaysia: Astro SuperSport
South Africa: SuperSport
Caribbean: Flow TV, Sportsmax
Middle East: OSN Cricket
Afghanistan: Lemar TV
Team News
KXIP
Possible XI: Maxwell (c), Amla, Vohra, Saha (wk), Patel, Miller, Stoinis, Swapnil, Mohit, Sandeep, Natarajan
RCB
Possible XI: Watson (c), Gayle, De Villiers, Mandeep, Jadhav, Binny, Vishnu (wk), Negi, Arvind, Mills, Chahal
