IPL 2022 Qualifier 2 RR vs RCB Predicted Playing XI: Will Faf drop Siraj from RCB XI? Neesham could replace McCoy in RR XI

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Faf du Plessis Royal Challengers Bangalore will cross swords with Sanju Samson's Rajasthan Royals in the Qualifier 2 of the IPL 2022 at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahemdabad on Friday. RCB are coming into this game on the back of a thumping win over KL Rahul's Lucknow Super Giants in Eliminator while RR faced defeat in their last game against Hardik Pandya's Gujarat Titans in the Qualifier 1. 

One step closer. #RoyalsFamily | #HallaBol | #RRvRCB pic.twitter.com/YaGk4zMPoX — Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) May 27, 2022

RCB might look to change their bowling lineup by dropping out of form M Siraj and bringing in Akash Deep or Siddharth Kaul who did well in the league stage matches. On the other hand, RR might look to strengthen their lower middle order by adding James Neesham in place of Obed McCoy. This will give RR great depth in their batting lineup. 

After winning the last match against Lucknow Super Giants, Faf Du Plessis-led side is all pumped up for their second match in the playoffs.

So far in the tournament, Faf is the highest scorer for the team. He had scored 443 runs in 15 matches with a strike rate of 130.2. Virat Kohli has also been good with the bat in the last few innings. He has scored 334 runs in 15 matches with a strike rate of 116.7. Dinesh Karthik played the role of finisher this year as he smashed 324 runs in 15 matches with a brilliant strike rate of 187.2.

The bowling department of the team did extremely well this season which is one of the reasons that RCB are still in contention for the title. Sri Lankan leg spinner Wanindu Hasaranga is the highest wicket-taker for the team and overall he is second for the most wickets in the IPL 2022. In 15 matches spinner has taken 25 wickets. Harshal Patel who is the talk of the town scalped 19 wickets in 15 matches with an economy of 7.57. Australian pacer Josh Hazelwood took 18 wickets in 11 matches with an economy of 8.33.

Talking about RR, it will be a big match for them as well because it will be a tribute from them to their first-ever captain who led them to their inaugural title win, Shane Warne. RR finished in the second position of the table this season before the playoffs and after losing their first qualifier they are all prepared to take RCB in Qualifier 2 to remain in the fight for the second title.

Talking about the top performers of RR, Jos Buttler is the highest run-getter of this season with 718 runs in 15 matches with a strike rate of 148.35. Captain Sanju Samson has also shown how to lead the team from the front. He scored 421 runs in 15 matches with a strike rate of 150.36. Left-handed batter Devdutt Padikkal has also performed well with a score of 365 runs in 15 matches and a strike rate of 128.52.

The best for the men in pink this season came through their bowlers. Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is the highest wicket-taker of the season with 26 wickets in 15 matches. Prashidh Krishna took 15 wickets in 15 matches with an economy of 8.36 and Trent Boult took 14 wickets in 14 matches with an economy of 8.33.

Predicted Playing XI

Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna, James Neesham 

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Mahipal Lomror, Shahbaz Ahmed, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Josh Hazlewood, Siddharth Kaul

Full Squads

WINNER TAKES ALL.

Stage is set.
It's GAME ON. [?] #PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #IPL2022 #Mission2022 #RCB #nmmRCB #PlayOffs #RRvRCB pic.twitter.com/7Sm3mA9RAz

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) May 27, 2022

Rajasthan Royals Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Obed McCoy, Yuzvendra Chahal, Karun Nair, James Neesham, Rassie van der Dussen, Corbin Bosch, Navdeep Saini, KC Cariappa, Daryl Mitchell, Tejas Baroka, Kuldip Yadav, Anunay Singh, Kuldeep Sen, Dhruv Jurel, Shubham Garhwal

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