Smarting from four successive losses and a washout that robbed their chances of a second place in the IPL playoffs, Rajasthan Royals face a daunting task to stay alive in the competition when they run into a red-hot Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Eliminator in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

The Royals had the winning mantra firmly in their hands for the first eight games out of nine before their campaign was derailed by the Sunrisers Hyderabad with a slender 1-run win that sparked off their four-match losing streak which RR haven’t managed to halt yet, although their last league stage match against KKR was washed out in Guwahati. But the league phase is now a thing of the past, and the Royals will be expected to come hard to retain hopes of winning their second IPL title since that inaugural edition in 2008.

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On the other hand, RCB have sensationally bounced back from the brink of elimination. After losing seven of their first eight games this season, the Faf du Plessis-led outfit came back strongly by winning their last six games on the trot and sealed a playoffs berth.

Against the late resurgence of the RCB side, the RR suddenly find themselves as the underdogs, when a couple of weeks ago they were the red-hot title favourites. The absence of Jos Buttler has taken a lot of firepower out of their batting and the onus will be on Yashasvi Jaiswal (348 runs), skipper Sang Samson (504) and Riyan Parag (531) to arrest the slide.

In the absence of Buttler, England’s Tom Kohler-Cadmore partnered Jaiswal at the top of the order but the combination seemed like a frail pair, and thus the Royals will be banking on their middle order pair of Samson and Parag to do the heavy-lifting. The Royals could also be bolstered by the return of in-form Shimron Hetmyer, who missed a few matches due to an injury and the West Indian will be expected to provide solidity to the lower order.

The Royals will expect their strong bowling lineup led by Trent Boult, Sandeep Sharma and Avesh Khan, and the experienced spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal to deliver the goods, given that the venue has also been assisting the bowlers unlike the other grounds, where shorter boundaries and docile tracks have made the bowlers’ job tougher.

In the ongoing edition of the IPL, where scores in excess of 200 have been the norm, the Narendra Modi Stadium has witnessed such huge totals only twice, which means the team having a disciplined bowling attack and a strong batting lineup is more likely to win here.

On the other hand, RCB’s Virat Kohli continues to be the highest run-getter this season with 708 runs from 14 matches and could make the difference in the contest. The good news for the RCB is that their skipper du Plessis has also found form with the bat that bolsters their opening combo. Rajat Patidar (five half-centuries this season) has also given solidity at the top.

The middle order comprising the likes of Cameron Green and Glenn Maxwell is capable enough to compensate for the exit of Englishman Will Jacks, with veteran stumper Dinesh Karthik firing on all cylinders with a strike rate in excess of 195 lower down the order.

On the bowling front, the RCB attack found their mojo back at the right time after a lacklustre show during the first half of their campaign, with the likes of Mohammed Siraj, Lockie Ferguson, Green and Yash Dayal turning on the heat. Dayal turned around his and RCB’s fortunes with a brilliant final over to knock CSK out of the race to the playoffs, and will be hoping to do an encore against the Royals on Wednesday.