IPL 2022, Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders: RCB up against confident KKR

Bangalore will look to put their house in order against KolkataOver the years, bowling has been Royal Challengers Bangalore's Achilles' heel. It came back to bite them in the IPL 2022 opener against Punjab Kings, where they failed to defend 205.

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One of contemporary cricket's greatest batters, AB de Villiers retired from all forms of the game in November last year. Since starting his association with RCB in 2011, the South African batting legend enjoyed 11 fruitful seasons with the franchise.

This will weigh heavily on Faf du Plessis and his men when they go up against a resurgent Kolkata Knight Riders at the DY Patil stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday night. KKR are riding high on confidence, having begun their campaign with a resounding six-wicket win over defending champions Chennai Super Kings.

The venue has been a happy hunting ground for Kolkata, who have never lost a match there. Also, they go into the contest with the psychological advantage of having beaten RCB in three outings, including the eliminator, last season. Although RCB's new-look middle-order remained largely untested in the previous game, they will take heart from the performance of the top-order led by skipper Du Plessis, who opened his campaign for his new franchise with a 57-ball 88. Add to it the form of Virat Kohli and the potential of youngster Anuj Rawat, RCB will look to get off to a good start. Their middle-order, anchored by Dinesh Karthik, has enough fire power including the dangerous David Willey, Sherfane Rutherford and Shahbaz Ahmed. The crucial box that they will need to be ticked against the former champions with an explosive batting line-up is