Playing 11 of players to have featured for both RCB & DC in the IPL ft. Dinesh Karthik, Kevin Pietersen

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will host the Delhi Capitals (DC) for a match in IPL 2024 later tonight at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. It is a crucial game for both sides in the race to the playoffs.

DC have won six out of their 12 matches and have 12 points to their name. Meanwhile, RCB have 10 points to their name from 12 games. Both teams need a win to strengthen their chances of a top 4 finish in the IPL 2024 points table.

Both sides have been a part of all IPL seasons but never won a trophy. They have signed some common players as well, and here's a strong playing XI featuring such names.

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Openers - Mayank Agarwal and Kevin Pietersen (c)

Mayank Agarwal will open the batting for this team along with England legend Kevin Pietersen. Agarwal scored 433 runs in 24 innings for RCB, while for DC, he aggregated 355 runs in 21 innings.

Kevin Pietersen is one of the few players to have captained both the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and the Delhi Capitals (then known as Delhi Daredevils) in IPL. He did not have a great record as captain, but the right-handed batter produced some match-winning performances with the willow for both franchises.

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Middle Order - TM Dilshan, KS Bharat (wk), AB de Villiers, Dinesh Karthik and Dan Christian

The middle-order comprises three foreign players, namely TM Dilshan, AB de Villiers, and Dan Christian. Dilshan and de Villiers started their respective careers at Delhi before moving to Bengaluru. AB went on to become an IPL legend while playing for RCB, and he was also inducted into the Hall of Fame by the franchise.

KS Bharat will keep the wickets for this team. He had a breakthrough season with Bengaluru in 2021. A year later, Delhi signed him, but he could not replicate the same performances for them. Dinesh Karthik has had multiple stints with both Delhi and Bengaluru. He is currently RCB's best finisher in IPL 2024.

Dan Christian bagged four wickets in four matches for Delhi. He had two stints with Bengaluru, where he managed four wickets and 20 runs in 11 appearances. In IPL 2021, some fans even considered Christian as the lucky charm of the Bengaluru franchise because the team won a majority of the games that he played.

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Bowlers - Pawan Negi, Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav and Zaheer Khan

Pawan Negi will be the lead spinner of this team. The former Indian spinner bagged eight wickets in 17 games for Delhi, and for Bengaluru, he picked up 20 wickets in 21 outings.

The pace attack of this lineup will feature three capped Indian fast bowlers. 2011 World Cup hero Zaheer Khan took 49 wickets for RCB and 27 wickets for DC. He was the skipper of Delhi in 2016 and 2017 seasons.

Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav will be the express right-arm pacers of the lineup. Aaron took 21 wickets in 24 matches for Bengaluru, and for Delhi, his tally read 10 wickets from 12 matches. Umesh, who plays for Gujarat Titans now, took 43 wickets for Delhi and 28 wickets for Bengaluru. He was the lead Indian pacer of both teams at one point in his IPL career.