IPL 2024: Three reasons why RCB will lose at home against KKR

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Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) might have started their IPL 2024 campaign with a defeat to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Chepauk but they ensured to tick all the boxes when they locked horns with Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the recent fixture at home.

RCB opened their account with a four-wicket win over PBKS. Faf du Plessis and Co. will take on Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata Knight Riders at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on March 29, Friday.

RCB and KKR have had fantastic battles over the seasons and it remains to be seen how things will turn out this time around. Let's take a glimpse at the three reasons why RCB will lose at home versus KKR.

1. RCB's inability to tackle KKR spinners

KKR's spinners namely Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy have caused all sorts of troubles to Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell in T20s. Virat Kohli has found it difficult to go about his business against Sunil Narine as the latter had the edge over the former.

For the record, Narine has dismissed Kohli on four occasions whereas Kohli managed to score 106 runs in T20s at an average of 26.5 and a strike rate of 100. On the contrary, Varun also has the upper hand of Maxwell as he dismissed him thrice. The Australian has an average of 11.67 and a strike rate of 145.84 against Varun.

2. KKR's mental edge over RCB

KKR will enter the game as the favourites because they not only have a better head to head record against RCB but also have a mental edge in coming out on top in the battle at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Overall, both teams locked horns with each other on 32 occasions. KKR have won 18 times whereas RCB won 14 times. Both teams played 11 games at M Chinnaswamy Stadium since the inception of the IPL, with KKR coming out on top on 7 occasions whereas RCB won only 4 games at their fortress.

3. Andre Russell and Rinku Singh expected to go all guns blazing

It is no secret that M Chinnaswamy Stadium is known for its batting-friendly pitch. In fact, it has earned a reputation for having a flat track that has turned out to be a batsman's paradise.

The pitch offers good bounce and the batters like Rinku Singh and Andre Russell can use it to their advantage. Since the outfield is also quick, the likes of Rinku and Russell will get value for their shots. As a result, we can expect both of them to switch to beast modes on the match day.