Former Indian batsman Ambati Rayudu believes Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will be favorites in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 Eliminator against Rajasthan Royals, scheduled for Wednesday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The Faf du Plessis-led side are on a six-game winning streak that has seen them secure a place in the league playoffs. RCB pushed defending champions Chennai Super Kings out of playoff contention after a 27-run win at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday. Sharing his thoughts on the Eliminator clash, Rayudu backed Bengaluru over Rajasthan as the latter comes on the back of a defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders that left them third in the points table.
“I think RCB are clear favorites for me, the way they are playing and they played a clinical game against CSK and RR, I don’t know if this gap in the game will help, this failure would help them move forward. in an eliminator against RCB, which I feel is now a mature team and every player knows his role, so I think RCB are the ones who will eventually go to knockout 2,” Rayudu said on Star Sports Cricket Live.
Meanwhile, former Indian pacer Varun Aaron also echoed Rayudu’s sentiments and supported RCB in the clash. He added that Virat Kohli deserves the IPL title after putting his “heart and soul” aside.
“He has one trophy to win. That’s all he has left. One thing he hasn’t won in all these years is the IPL trophy. He has given his heart and soul to this franchise. The fans love him, and the fans of other teams love him too.
“But the IPL has been so difficult for Virat Kohli that he needs to make it this year. He’s going to want to achieve that this year, especially after you win six games in a row and go to a playoff like this.
“All it does for you is boost your self-confidence, not just his own but the whole team’s. So, they will come in with a lot of belief, very much in contrast to the Rajasthan Royals who are going in with a lot of doubts. So it will be a very interesting encounter and I fully support RCB in this game just because of the momentum they are taking in this encounter,” he added.
Furthermore, Rayudu feels that Qualifier 1 between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will be an ‘epic’ encounter in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
“I think they are the first ones in the powerplay that come to mind for both teams. The match can be decided in the powerplay. Whoever plays well in this initial part will have an advantage and also going into the playoffs, it’s like a different tournament. It’s not the same thing, because the championship phase is different.
“But from now on teams will treat every match as a final and KKR will be no different. For SRH, Pat Cummins knows Ahmedabad well, he has great memories there. So it will be an epic encounter,” said the veteran player of cricket. .
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