Kohli, Dhoni set for potential final face-off

Royal Challengers Bengaluru have a provisional playoff berth in sight and Chennai Super Kings need a morale-lifting win. But beyond the team goals, the IPL match here on Saturday offers the opportunity to see icons Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni battling against each other, perhaps, one final time in the league.

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Before delving into that possibility, a glance of the situation will reveal that RCB can swell their tally to 16 with a win, a position from where they potentially cannot falter in the race to the Qualifiers with three matches still remaining. A victory will instil some belief into an already ousted CSK unit that it can gain some late momentum and finish somewhere mid-table, and avoid the ignominy of being the wooden-spoon holders.

And each of that objective is closely linked with the form of Kohli and Dhoni, the protagonists of one of the brightest bromance stories in Indian cricket.

But at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, they will be going at full tilt against each other. Kohli has constructed a mini hot streak, making four fifties in his last five innings.

The champion batter will be eager to produce another little masterclass to help RCB get closer to the play-off berth.

He will be glad to see Devdutt Padikkal giving him solid support at No. 3, making two fifties in his last two innings. But Kohli will certainly like to see more contribution from his opening partner Phil Salt, so that he does not have to do the heavy-lifting alone.

Similarly, RCB will also be keen to see skipper Rajat Patidar regaining his smooth-hitting form of the earlier part of the IPL, as his last substantial innings came seven matches ago.

However, he can look to cash in on the under-firing CSK bowling unit, except pacer Khaleel Ahmed and spinner Noor Ahmad.

But the Kings batters, who have suffered a collective dip in form this season, will have no such respite as they will be up against Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma.