Royal Challengers Bangalore v Gujarat Titans: IPL 2022 match preview

The Cricketer takes a look at the next fixture in the 2022 Indian Premier League season

What's the match?

Royal Challengers Bangalore take on Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League.

When is it taking place?

The match will be played Thursday, May 19 with play starting at 7.30pm local time (3pm GMT).

Where is the match being played?

The game will be held at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Who's got the form?

Delhi Capitals' victory over Punjab Kings on Monday saw them overtake RCB in the race for the fourth spot in the play-offs. With Delhi's last match against the struggling Mumbai Indians, RCB will feel they have to win and win well against the group leaders to qualify. RCB have a big deficit on net run rate to make up so they may need to get a bit funky in trying to make it up.

It will be a tall order to defeat Gujarat Titans, who have won 10 from 13 games and are four points clear at the top. Gujarat Titans cemented their place in the play-offs and favourites status going into the latter stages with an impressive 62-run victory over Lucknow Super Giants last time out. An unbeaten 62 from Shubman Gill and 4 for 24 from Rashid Khan helped dominate the second-best side in the competition as Lucknow Super Giants were bundled out for 82.

After good wins over Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings, a damaging defeat against Punjab leaves Bangalore needing Mumbai to help them out by defeating Capitals on Saturday.

^{Gujarat Titans have been the team to beat in their first year of competition}

What's the key match-up?

The key to Titans' success this season has been the platform that Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha, and captain Hardik Pandya have given the middle order, so much so that the likes of David Miller and Rahul Tewatia have not been tasked with anything more strenuous than some late order hitting in recent matches.

RCB's bowling – in particular Josh Hazelwood and Mohammed Siraj – was taken apart by Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone as Punjab posted 209 for 9. The patchy form of Kohli and Maxwell is concerning – they need those two to play well in this game and potentially the playoffs if Mumbai do indeed do them a favour against Delhi Capitals.

Head-to-head record 

Matches played: 1

Royal Challengers Bangalore wins: 0

Gujarat Titans wins: 1

What's the weather forecast?

A warm day is expected in Mumbai, with highs of 32 degrees Celsius.

What are the squads?

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj, Faf du Plessis, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat, Shahbaz Ahamad, Akash Deep, Josh Hazlewood, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Sherfane Rutherford, Jason Behrendorff, Suyash Prabhudessai, Chama Milind, Aneeshwar Gautam, Karn Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, Luvnith Sisodia (injury replacement: Rajat Patidar), David Willey

Gujarat Titans: Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill, Rashid Khan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Mohammad Shami, Lockie Ferguson, Abhinav Sadarangani, Rahul Tewatia, Noor Ahmad, R Sai Kishore, Dominic Drakes, Jayant Yadav, Viijay Shankar, Darshan Nalkande, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph, Prandeep Sangwan, David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Gurkeerat Singh, Varun Aaron

^{Royal Challengers Bangalore have been too inconsistent to maintain their challenge}

What are the possible starting XIs?

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis (c), Anuj Rawat, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Suyash Prabhudessai, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Josh Hazelwood, Mohammed Siraj

Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Abhinav Manohar, Lockie Ferguson, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Mohammed Shami

What are the odds?

The bookies make Gujarat Titans favourites for this match with 10/11 odds. RCB are 19/20 to win tomorrow with the bookies predicting a match that is too close to call decisively one way or the other.

What's the prediction?

Gujarat may have an eye on the play-offs, but their quality will most likely be too much for Bangalore who have simply been too inconsistent to trouble any of the top three even if they do qualify for the play-offs.

Where can I watch the game?

In the UK, Sky Sports have exclusive rights to this year's tournament, with matches available on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket.

Fans in India can watch all of the action on Star Sports.

Elsewhere in the world, viewers in Australia can watch the IPL on Fox Sports while in New Zealand, Sky Sport will provide coverage.

Willow TV and Flow Sports will broadcast the tournament in the United States and the Caribbean, respectively.

Fans in MENA can catch the action on beIN Sports while in South Africa, SuperSport have the rights.

The IPL can also be streamed on Disney+ and Hotstar in certain areas.