[CRK] Kohli meets DC, Rahul meets RCB as playoffs race heats up

[CRK]

Big picture: Can Rahul boss his favourite opponents again?

KL Rahul loves Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). He made his IPL debut for them and had his breakout season with them when they made the final in 2016. But more specifically, he loves playing against his hometown team.

Since he moved out of RCB in 2018, Rahul has racked up 789 runs against his former side, the most he’s scored against any team in that period. In his entire IPL career, his average of 69.91 against RCB is his best against any team. And his strike rate of 145.65 against RCB is only bettered by his 164.89 against another former team, Punjab Kings (PBKS).

Form guide

Royal Challengers Bengaluru WLWWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Delhi Capitals LLWLL

Key question

Team news: Salt still out injured, Ngidi in doubt

Lungi Ngidi has been DC’s best seamer this season, but he is in doubt after taking a blow to his head while attempting a catch against PBKS. Ngidi had to be stretchered off the ground and was taken to a hospital. An hour after the incident, the franchise said he was “stable” and due to be discharged shortly, but he may not be ready to play the game against RCB, with just a day’s gap between the two games.

In the spotlight: Pathum Nissanka and Virat Kohli

DC signed up Pathum Nissanka in the auction after an uptick in performances in T20s since the start of 2025. From the start of 2025 to the start of IPL 2026, Nissanka averaged 34.18 and was striking at 158.02 in all T20s.

Stats and triva

• Bhuvneshwar Kumar has solid records against DC’s top three. He’s dismissed Rahul and Nitish Rana only twice each, but they only strike at 109 and 122 against him respectively.
• Jitesh Sharma has got out to Axar Patel twice in 19 balls, scoring just 15 runs against the left-arm spinner.
• Kohli is 72 runs away from reaching 400 runs in an IPL season for the 11th time.

Pitch and Conditions

This game will be played on Pitch No. 5, where GT made 210 earlier this season and DC fell short by one run in a last-ball thriller. In the four games played on this mixed-soil pitch since IPL 2025, the average first-innings score has been 197, so you can expect another high-scoring match.

Quotes

“The bowlers are challenged, isn’t it? 200, 220 runs, teams seem to be getting it and it almost feels like 220 is the old 180 or something like that. So it is a challenging situation for any bowling coach and any bowler. So obviously as a bowling unit, you need to be very aware of what’s happening and how the scores have increased and how you need to be thinking as a bowler and without revealing too much, I’d say so far we are trying our best to do a good job.”

RCB batting coach Dinesh Karthik on a tough life for bowlers