Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh)

All eyes will be on India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) icon Virat Kohli to deliver yet another masterclass against Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Qualifier one at Dharamsala on Tuesday.

RCB will clash against GT in the Qualifier one for a direct spot in the final. For RCB to make it to the final directly once again, it would be important that Virat brings his A-game against a team to which he has taken a liking, as suggested by his numbers.

With 460 runs in eight matches at an average of 76.66 and a strike rate of over 152, including a century and four fifties against GT, Virat has been exceptional against GT.

However, Virat's underwhelming playoffs record could play a spoilsport. While Virat has won India many T20 World Cup knockout stage matches or has stood tall even in defeat, it has not been the case in RCB colours.

In 17 playoff stage matches for RCB since 2009, Virat has scored just 396 runs at an average of 26.4 and a strike rate of 121.1, with just two fifties. His last five scores in IPL playoff stage matches are: 25, 7, 33, 12 and 43. The last time Virat hit a half-century in the IPL knockout stage was back in 2016, when he scored 54 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the title clash in a losing effort.

Virat's match-up against GT's firing powerplay pair of Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada will be massive.

Siraj, having spent years in RCB camp with Virat, knows his game like no one. But in their brief exchanges, Virat has been on top so far, scoring 18 runs in 12 balls at a strike rate of 150.00 without any dismissal. He has used a four and a six each against his former RCB mate.

The 36-year-old's duel with Rabada is much more competitive. He has scored 111 runs in 79 balls across 16 innings against the South African at a strike rate of 140.5, but Rabada has got him five times, reducing Virat's average to 22.2 against him. Virat has used 13 fours and three sixes against the Proteas pacer, averaging a boundary every 4.9 balls.

So far in the tournament, Virat has made 557 runs in 14 innings at an average of 50.63 and a strike rate of over 163, with a century and four fifties.

Will Virat overcome his underwhelming playoff record and continue his dominance over GT to produce a masterclass fans would expect of him?

Squads:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad: Venkatesh Iyer, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Salam Dar, Philip Salt, Abhinandan Singh, Swapnil Singh, Jordan Cox, Kanishk Chouhan, Jacob Duffy, Richard Gleeson, Vicky Ostwal, Vihaan Malhotra, Mangesh Yadav, Satvik Deswal

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Gujarat Titans Squad: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Washington Sundar, Nishant Sindhu, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Arshad Khan, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Anuj Rawat, Glenn Phillips, Rahul Tewatia, Kulwant Khejroliya, Kumar Kushagra, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Shahrukh Khan, Ishant Sharma, Luke Wood, Ashok Sharma, Connor Esterhuizen, Gurnoor Brar, Manav Suthar, Jayant Yadav.