IPL 4 Final Four ( IPL 4 Qualifier ) Teams Profile: The Royal Challengers Bangalore

The Royal Challengers Bangalore are clearly the team to beat. Rather there is one dangerous floater amongst the rest of the strong line up that could hold the key to who wins the IPL 4 Qualifier 1 and indeed the IPL 4 final.

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The Royal Challengers Bangalore butt heads again with the Chennai Super Kings in the first qualifier. And yet again, a win will be on their mind because while it elevated them to the top position in the last league match, win here will propel them straight in the IPL 4 final.

It has to be said that with Chris Gayle in the ranks, the Royal Challengers Bangalore will have to be rated as hot favourites to lift the IPL 4 trophy. That did not always seem the case in the IPL 4 season when it seemed that the Chennai Super Kings or the Mumbai Indians were strong contenders. The Royal Challengers have pipped their contenders with the one big change, naming the replacement player as Gayle.

Since Gayle has come into the side as an opener, the RCB's record has sky rocketed to now leave them on top of the IPL 4 points table. However, that will matter little as a fresh game begins on Tuesday. But the RCB captain, Daniel Vettori, will not be as worried as he was at the start of the season where the RCB were suffering for want of consistency.

But the Royal Challengers Bangalore should prove to be a sticky opposition not only because of Gayle's prolific run scoring this season, making any target seem miniscule, but also, because they have the young dynamite in Virat Kohli, the only player retained for the IPL 4. If Kohli can keep his rhythm and time his next big knock, the RCB will be hard to stop.

AB de Villiers will need to get back rather quickly into his run machine ways if the RCB are to fire in what could be their final two matches in the tournament. With the kingpins on fire, any opposition would struggle against them.

But the Royal Challengers Bangalore have also won matches based on the balance in their bowling attack. With the return of Daniel Vettori after a brief break due to a knee injury, he should be able to deliver in the spin department as he did against Chennai in the dress rehearsal.

Zaheer Khan is a world class fast bowler, whose wicket taking form has been rather good for India and the Royal Challengers Bangalore and he has the support of Sreenath Arvind who has been one of the unsung but outstanding bowlers of the tournament.

It will be interesting how the RCB play around with the rest of squad or if they stick to the same playing eleven against Chennai for the first qualifier. With the key players around, they should look for the ultimate prize.