RCB battles with freak injuries as Indian youngster Rasikh Dar leaves the field alongside physiotherapists after suffering a hamstring injury.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru have not had many injuries this season after the return of Josh Hazlewood, the Australian pacer who was injured at the start of the season. Since then, his first injury problem came when Virat Kohli left the field at Wankhede.

Phil Salt, who has been sporadically in the Royal Challengers camp and has played his part with the bat in recent matches after an unconvincing start to the campaign, has been ruled out with an injury ahead of their match against GT.

Rasikh Dar leaves the field after physios confirm hamstring injury against GT

The youngster from Jammu and Kashmir has been a good find for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He replaced Abhinandan in the RCB side after the bowler replaced Yash Dayal in the opening matches of the season.

Rasikh Dar was immediately in the Challengers’ wicket tally, while he has been very economical with the ball, especially in the death overs. However, the bowler failed to bowl in the final over against the Gujarat Titans at Chinnaswamy.

Rasikh Dar grabbed his hamstring even before he could bowl a ball in the game. Physiotherapists then assessed Dar and took him off the field while Krunal Pandya took the ball late in the game.

Krunal Pandya loses 18 runs in final after injury scare

After Rasikh Dar left the field, RCB’s experienced spinner Krunal Pandya was chosen to bowl the final over. Captain Rajat Patidar trusted him more than Romario Shepherd, who scored runs in the previous game against the Capitals in the final and had already bowled 17 runs in this game as well.

The left-arm spinner is known for his unique variations and has been seen bowling in various circumstances such as the powerplay and also the death overs. Krunal, however, did not have the answer to some long levers from West Indian giant Jason Holder.

Holder picked out Krunal and hit him over mid-wicket boundary on two occasions. He was then hit for a four as Holder managed to get 16 runs off three balls. Krunal finished with two good balls and they finished at 205 with an 18-run finish.

NO Phil Salt as RCB look to chase 200+ target at Chinnaswamy

RCB are looking to get a final win at Chinnaswamy as they play their last match at this venue. However, they will have to chase a total of over 200 against one of the most challenging bowling lineups in the IPL.

Although they have chased similar objectives on previous occasions, they will miss the services of Phil Salt, the RCB opener who has had an important role to play in those previous innings. However, with Virat Kohli by their side, they would look to chase him well at Chinnaswamy.

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