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A lot has changed since Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) first met in the early days of IPL 2024. RCB won that game at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, giving their fans hope that this could be the year they changed their poor home form and PBKS looked set to fall flat again.
But now, the season has gone pretty similarly for both teams. They have struggled immensely in home games and despite finding new heroes, haven't been helped by the poor forms of some of their experienced campaigners. In the second half, both sides have been seen more as "entertainers" than competitors for the league.
That entertainment has brought them to a knockout game. Whoever win the reverse fixture in Dharamshala on Thursday will keep their playoff hope alive (even if barely alive). The loser will be knocked out of the race once and for all.
Below, we have predicted three bowlers who could be the biggest drivers behind their teams' respective goals by picking up the most wickets:
#3 Harpreet Brar
In the Chinnaswamy game, when most PBKS bowlers went at an economy rate of 10 or above, Harpreet Brar bowled a four-over spell of 2/13, taking the wickets of Rajat Patidar and Glenn Maxwell in the middle overs. Had Shikhar Dhawan used his quota better, he might have won PBKS that game.
Stand-in captain Sam Curran, despite giving Brar just one over against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the last match, is unlikely to make that mistake. He'd know that Brar has eight wickets in six games against RCB at an average of 20 - his best against any IPL opponent. Most RCB batters struggle against left-arm spin, including Virat Kohli, who has gotten out to him more than once.
The Dharamshala wicket offered even more turn than what he got at the Chinnaswamy and that's likely to make his bowling even more effective.
#2 Mohammed Siraj
After a lean first half, Mohammed Siraj looks close to his best in IPL 2024. He has three wickets in the last two games and is coming off his best spell of the season against Gujarat Titans where he started by removing both the openers.
The other game where he took two wickets this season was against PBKS at the Chinnaswamy. Siraj has now found consistency and stopped leaking runs as well.
PBKS' top-order troubles are well-documented. Apart from Prabhsimran Singh, they haven't found anyone to either hold the innings or put pressure on the opposition consistently. Siraj has used that well in the past, taking 10 wickets in nine games, including his IPL-best spell of 4/21 last year.
If he hits the right areas early, Siraj might produce another breathtaking spell in Dharamshala.
#1 Harshal Patel
The slower-one PBKS pacer Harshal Patel used to get MS Dhoni out the other night told all you need to know about him. When there's a bit of grip on the surface, he becomes one of the most deceptive fast bowlers in the league. And that grip is available in Dharamshala which got him a spell of 3/24 against CSK.
In the Chinnaswamy game, he took the important wicket of Virat Kohli. Bowling against his old franchise RCB might bring some extra motivation again. He already has 17 wickets in 11 games at an average of 21.29 (the best since 2021) and is second in the race for the Purple Cap. A few wickets here and he'd be wearing it once again.
