Win, the only option for wary RCB

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For all their bravado, Royal Challengers Bangalore have ended up being poor travellers this IPL season. Of their eight away games, the Challengers managed to pull back just two while going down in six.

There is no argument that the sixth edition has seen such a strong bias in home and away games that most teams, barring current table toppers Chennai Super Kings, have been caught like deer in the headlights on their opponents’ turf.
After 20 days on the road at eight different venues, the weary Challengers are back at home for their final two games of the league and just like Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur, the Challengers have made the Chinnaswamy Stadium their fortress, winning six out of six.
All that will pale into insignificance if Virat Kohli’s men are unable to lift themselves, against Kings XI Punjab on Tuesday before going into the edge of the seat clash against Dhoni’s Super Kings on Saturday.
In a mid-table that is as tight as a bloated midriff, the Challengers, who tumbled like the proverbial nine pins against the Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday, will have to pick themselves off the floor and this is where a return to familiar surroundings and frenzied home fans could work in their favour.
If only things were that easy. The nightmare that a certain David Miller unleashed on them a week ago in Mohali will be fresh in memory though the home team can take heart in the fact that the attacking Kings XI batsman has slipped from his perch a bit after that breathtaking assault.
For all purposes, Adam Gilchrist’s men are out of contention, unless of course they win the next three games and then have other results going in their favour; but the aggressive Kohli couldn’t care less about his opponents and will be itching to repay back Miller in his own coin.
With Chris Gayle back at his favoured venue, RCB will be looking for the kind of explosion only the Jamaican can provide but their opening conundrum is as worrying as their bowling options.
Fiver opening pairs with Gayle being the only constant hasn’t done them much good and it remains to be seen whether Cheteshwar Pujara gets another chance.
More importantly, Kohli and the think-tank may be wrestling with the possibility of bringing back the erratic R.P. Singh in place of Abhimanyu Mithun with a likelihood of playing Muttiah Muralitharan in place of Moises Henriques to counter the threat of the big-hitting left-handers in the Kings XI. But that will mean they go in with one batsman short in Henriques’ absence throwing open another dilemma with just two games to go.