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Royal Challengers Bengaluru`s (RCB) Virat Kohli, who has faced two consecutive ducks in recent games, will be raring to go against the Kolkata Knight Riders. The Indian star batter will face an old nemesis, Sunil Narine, as he looks to get back to his best form this season.
Two consecutive golden ducks have put a stop to Virat`s IPL 2026 run, which had been an enjoyable ride for the fans. Kohli has shown aggressive intent during the powerplay, helping RCB to fast starts.
With 1,021 runs at an average of 39.26 and a strike rate of 132.94 in 36 games, the 37-year-old has a strong record against three-time champions. Kohli also has scored, including a century and seven fifties, against the 3-time champions. He has hit three fifties in his last five innings against the Knights, scoring 21, 54, 83*, 18, and 59*.
The match-up between Narine and Kohli will be a key battle in this game. In 21 innings, Narine has dismissed Virat four times. Meanwhile, Virat has scored 171 in 168 balls at a strike rate of just over 101, including 12 fours and two sixes. So far, Narine has managed to contain Kohli and his run flow, and he will hope that continues when the duo meet today.
So far this season, Kohli has scored 379 runs in 11 matches at an average of 42.11 and a strike rate of 163.36, including three fifties. Meanwhile, Narine has got 10 wickets in nine matches at an average of 22.80.
Confirmed Squads for both teams:
Kolkata Knight Riders Squad: Ajinkya Rahane(c), Finn Allen, Angkrish Raghuvanshi(w), Cameron Green, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Kartik Tyagi, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ramandeep Singh, Tejasvi Dahiya, Navdeep Saini, Tim Seifert, Rachin Ravindra, Blessing Muzarabani, Matheesha Pathirana, Rahul Tripathi, Sarthak Ranjan, Prashant Solanki, Saurabh Dubey, Umran Malik, Daksh Kamra
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad: Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Krunal Pandya, Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Rasikh Salam Dar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Jordan Cox, Mangesh Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Jacob Duffy, Philip Salt, Nuwan Thushara, Vihaan Malhotra, Abhinandan Singh, Kanishk Chouhan, Satvik Deswal, Vicky Ostwal, Swapnil Singh.
(With ANI Input)
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