Royal Challengers Bengaluru may have been enduring poor outings in the 2024 Indian Premier League, but their star batter, Virat Kohli, has been among the runs this year. Kohli is currently at the top of the Orange Cap list, and will face the high-flying Sunrisers Hyderabad, who, under captain Pat Cummins, have been on a rampage this season.

The two sides face off for a second time this season on Thursday, with the RCB hoping for a better outing with the ball at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. In their previous clash, records tumbled as SRH posted the highest-ever score in IPL history, amassing 287/3 in 20 overs.

As the two sides prepared ahead of their high-octane clash, a video from the interaction between Kohli and Cummins went viral on social media platforms. Cummins, who engaged in batting practice at the stadium, walked up to Kohli as the latter rested following a gruelling training stint. Cummins shook the RCB batter's hand, saying, “I heard you saying I was making that wicket look flat,” seemingly referring to his own batting practice.

To this, Kohli laughed before complimenting the SRH skipper. “You are too good, Pat,” said the RCB great.

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In their previous encounter between the two teams, an aggregate of 549 were scored, which is a T20 record. While RCB did concede the mammoth score at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, they put up a strong fight, reaching 262/7 in the run-chase.

Despite their commendable effort to compensate for severe shortcomings in bowling, the task of achieving an all-round performance remains nearly impossible for the Royal Challengers in terms of balance. Yet, RCB displayed immense fighting spirit with the bat in their previous game against the Kolkata Knight Riders; their efforts were in vain as they narrowly lost by just one run in a 223-run chase.

SRH look to retain top-four spot

The Sunrisers will be hoping for another strong performance with their batting order against a considerably weak RCB bowling attack. Travis Head is in scintillating form, capitalising on his purple patch to make significant strides. In their last game, Head, alongside fellow opener Abhishek Sharma, notched up the highest-ever score in powerplay in IPL history – a blistering 125 without a wicket against Delhi Capitals.

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