With every match practically becoming a potential decider in the race to the IPL 2024 play-offs, both Gujarat Titans and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, sitting at the bottom of the standings, will look to upstage each other to keep their hopes alive when they take on each other at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday.

The recent struggles of Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals, have given a glimmer of hope to the teams at the bottom of the IPL points tally, and thus both RCB and GT will be aware of the importance of the upcoming tie.

With six and eight points respectively from 10 games each, RCB and GT will look to make the most of the opportunities as the IPL heads to its business end, and each loss from here on could be a potential knockout of their aspirations to enter the play-off race.

Having secured two wins in their last two matches, RCB will head into the contest with momentum on their side. The standout performances of Will Jacks and Cameron Green have bolstered the morale of the side, with Virat Kohli remaining the consistent performer irrespective of their faulty campaign. Kohli continues to be the highest run-maker this season as he recently became the first batter to go past 500-run mark in this edition of the IPL, and RCB will certainly like a few more from his willow.

Jacks powered his way to a match-winning century against GT in the previous face-off between the sides while Green finally lived up to his tag of all-rounder with crucial runs and wickets against Hyderabad. RCB would hope for an encore from them at the home venue as well.

Having said that, RCB would expect a more disciplined effort from their bowlers. The likes of Mohammed Siraj, who has been drafted into India’s T20 World Cup squad, Yash Dayal, Karn Sharma and Swapnil Singh were on the money against SRH, and the management will hope that they carry out the job on a consistent basis.

On the other hand, the Titans are smarting from successive losses against DC and RCB, and will hope that their campaign get back on track at the M Chinnaswamy. But for that, Shubman Gill will need his bowling unit to put up a tidy act against a dangerous RCB batting line-up.

The Titans’ bowling department has been struggling, with both the pacers and the slower bowlers failing to fire in unison. Rashid Khan, their star spinner, has taken just eight wickets across 10 matches while giving eight runs an over, a significantly higher economy rate than his overall 6.7 in IPL since 2017.

The pace department has also been a shadow of its glorious best in the absence of Mohammed Shami, who is recuperating after a surgery, the Titans’ most experienced duo of Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma have gone for plenty.

In batting too, the team’s scores have mostly revolved around contributions from Shubman and Sai Sudharsan, amassing over 700 runs between them. The rest of the batting group, including the likes of Wriddhiman Saha, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar and Shahrukh Khan have not managed to even touch 200 this season, highlighting their struggles in the middle and lower order.