3 player battles to watch out for in DC vs RCB, Match 46 of IPL 2025 ft. KL Rahul

Second-placed Delhi Capitals (DC) will face third-placed Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday, April 27. It will be an evening game, the second match of the double-header Sunday.

Delhi have performed brilliantly this season and are tied with leaders Gujarat Titans with 12 points from eight games, but are below them due to a lower NRR. RCB also have 12 points but are placed below DC, thanks to the latter’s superior NRR.

The winner of this contest will take the top spot on the points table, surpassing GT to get to 14 points. The victory will also take the winner one step closer to the playoffs. On that note, let’s look at three player battles that could define the result of this game.

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#3 Jitesh Sharma vs Kuldeep Yadav

RCB’s middle-order batter Jitesh Sharma showed resilience with the bat in the team’s previous outing Rajasthan Royals (RR). He has played both spin and pace equally well, but his performances against the latter have particularly caught the eye.

Coming to bat in the middle overs, he’ll be up against one of DC’s most impactful spinners - Kuldeep Yadav. In T20s, the RCB batter has scored 31 runs in 28 balls of four innings against Kuldeep at a strike rate of 110.71. The DC spinner has dismissed him twice in these outings.

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#2 Virat Kohli vs Mitchell Starc

Former RCB skipper Virat Kohli has been in top form with the bat, having scored three half-centuries in his last five innings. With RCB looking in good shape, the onus will be on Kohli and his opening partner, Phil Salt, who have been doing a great job starting the innings for their side.

Kohli has done well against Mitchell Starc in the shortest format of the game. In 51 deliveries across nine innings, Starc has conceded 88 runs against Kohli, failing to dismiss him even once. While the former India skipper will be eager to continue his form, especially against Starc, the latter will want to dismiss Kohli for the first time in T20s.

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#1 KL Rahul vs Josh Hazlewood

One of Delhi’s top-performing players this season is KL Rahul with 323 runs in seven games so far. He has three half-centuries to his name in these outings, including a match-winning whirlwind knock of 93* against RCB from the two teams’ previous encounter.

KL has performed brilliantly against Josh Hazlewood in T20s, having scored 104 runs off him in 61 deliveries across eight innings. The Aussie pacer has dismissed the Indian wicket-keeper batter twice in these outings, while the latter has struck at 170.49.