After all, the royal challenge Bangalore were expected to put up in the Indian Premier League has been conspicuous by its absence. Rahul Dravid's unit has failed to find its feet, not even firing sporadically. No wonder the Royal Challengers find themselves with just a solitary, narrow win to their name after three games.

The Chennai Super Kings, by contrast, have most certainly done justice to their name. The brand of cricket they have exhibited thus far has been little short of regal, their discipline impeccable and their drive exhilarating. Led astutely by Mahendra Singh Dhoni — who received a massive compliment on Sunday evening from Stephen Fleming, arguably one of the finest international captains ever — the Super Kings have done the early running, as evidenced by three wins out of three.

To, therefore, term Monday night at the Chinnaswamy stadium a battle among equals will be more than a trifle naive. That said, the beauty of the Twenty20 format lies in its supreme unpredictability and the fact that even one man can turn things around. Dravid will be hoping that that one man, never mind what name he answers to, comes to the party if the Royal Challengers are to mount even a semblance of a challenge.

The Super Kings have been served outstandingly well by their two international batsmen, but there is more to Dhoni's side than just Matthew Hayden and Michael Hussey. Both Australian left-handers have been in excellent form, but there have been key contributions from Indian talent too, not least Parthiv Patel, Suresh Raina, S Badrinath and the skipper himself.

Their bowling looks the weaker of the two suits, but looks can be deceptive. The relatively unheralded Manpreet Gony, a strapping quick bowler from Punjab, has been a revelation, while Muttiah Muralitharan came into his own on Saturday against the Knight Riders, armed as he was with a ball untouched by the trappings of late-night dew.

It’s a formidable concoction, any which way you look at it, made to look even more intimidating by the arrival of South Africans Makhaya Ntini and Albie Morkel — neither of whom is likely to play on the morrow — and by the fact that Dhoni is unable to find a place in the eleven yet for Fleming.

Fleming and the two Proteas will start to play once Hayden, Hussey and Oram leave the Super Kings for the season following Monday’s fixture to honour national obligations. The Royal Challengers, on the other hand, will be desperate to try and get their latest arrival in shape for a game they must win if they are not to start playing catch-up at this early stage.

South African tearaway Dale Steyn landed in the City on Sunday evening, armed with a huge reputation and a bucketful of wickets. He could be the battering ram Dravid needs alongside Zaheer Khan at the top of the bowling tree, though it is the batting tree that has been alarmingly barren for the home side.
Two home matches have yielded scores of 82 and 135, the Challengers’ top-order caught betwixt and between. To many in that top-heavy line-up, T20 is a new format, and they are obviously struggling to adapt and adjust. 120 deliveries isn't as less as it appears, and the sooner that registers on the batsmen, the better off they will be.

Dravid will also have to think long and hard about not just about the composition but also the batting order, and if that means having to leave even a Jacques Kallis out for Misbah-ul-Haq, so be it. After all, what's in a name?!
Teams (from):

Royal Challengers: Rahul Dravid (capt), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ross Taylor, Misbah-ul-Haq, Jacques Kallis, Virat Kohli, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn, R Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Anil Kumble, Sunil Joshi, J Arun Kumar, B Akhil, Sreevats Goswami, Bharath Chipli, Cameron White, Ashley Noffke, Wasim Jaffer, Devraj Patil, KP Appanna, Abdur Razzaq.

Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Parthiv Patel, Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey, Suresh Raina, S Badrinath, Jacob Oram, Joginder Sharma, P Amarnath, Manpreet Gony, Muttiah Muralitharan, Stephen Fleming, Albie Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan, Arun Karthik, Napoleon Einstein, Ahbinav Mukund.
Umpires: Billy Doctrove and Russel Tiffin.