Xtra time Web Desk: Kolkata Knight Riders is gearing up to face Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday, March 29th. This will be KKR’ second group stage encounter in the IPL 2024, as they strive to maintain their winning streak in the tournament. So far, visiting teams have yet to secure a victory in IPL, but KKR appears poised to offer stiff competition to Bengaluru this. The match promises the battle of stars. Notably, KKR’s Sunil Narine and Andre Russell will be key figures, while RCB will rely on Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis, and Glenn Maxwell.
However, amidst these anticipated battles, RCB wicket keeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has mentioned a unique match up that fans might overlook. In RCB’s match preview, Karthik humorously pointed out the potential showdown between Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli. He said, “Virat Kohli vs Gautam Gambhir (smiles). Mitchell Starc to Glenn Maxwell will be very interesting. Varun Chakravarthy to me (Dinesh Karthik) will be very interesting.”
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Kohli-Gambhir controversy
During an IPL 2023 league-stage match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants, an altercation ensued between Gambhir and Kohli. The heated exchange of words between the two escalated to such an extent that other players, including Amit Mishra, had to intervene to restore normalcy after the match.
RCB vs KKR: Head-to-Head
In their head-to-head encounters, Kolkata and Bengaluru have faced off 32 times, with KKR holding a slight lead of 18-14. Notably, when competing at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, KKR has demonstrated superior performance compared to Bengaluru, securing victory in 7 out of the 11 matches played between the two teams at the venue.