- With the likes of Virat Kohli, big-hitting Chris Gayle, dangerous AB de Villiers and seasoned Shane Watson up its rank, Royal Challengers Bangalore boast of a mighty batting unit which on its day can tear apart any bowling outfit.
Desperate to break their title jinx, Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore will be hoping for a positive start to their campaign in the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League, when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad, in Bengaluru, on Tuesday.
Despite having a formidable side, RCB have never won the IPL title since the tournament's inception in 2008. On two occasions -- 2009 and 2011 -- they came closest to the title as they finished runners up both times.
Leaving behind all the off-field controversies surrounding former franchise chairman Vijay Mallya, this time around RCB are looking to justify their favourites tag under the leadership of Kohli, who has been in sublime form.
Kohli, who is considered as one of the best batsman in the world currently, is in supreme form. He had amassed 273 runs in five ICC World T20 matches to bag player of the tournament award.
The right-hander will be aiming to carry on his recent good form into the IPL for his franchise, which also boasts of some of the big names of the game in its batting department.
With the likes of Kohli, big-hitting Chris Gayle, dangerous AB de Villiers and seasoned Shane Watson up its rank, RCB possess a mighty batting unit which on its day can tear apart any bowling outfit.
The recently-retired Australian Watson would be hoping to prove his worth by producing an all-round show after he became the costliest player in this year's IPL auction. He was bought by RCB for a whopping Rs 9.5 crore.
If needed RCB might also be prompted to utilise the services of Travis Head and Sarfaraz Khan, who have shown their big-hitting capability in the T20 format.
New recruits all-rounder Stuart Binny and young batsman Mandeep Singh might also be expected to play important roles, as only four international players are allowed in the playing eleven.
Having lost the services of their main strike bowler Mitchell Starc, New Zealand's Adam Milne is likely to lead the bowling attack in the company of David Wiese, Kane Richardson, Varun Aaron, Harshal Patel and Sreenath Arvind.
The big blow for RCB for the first few matches will be absence of West Indies leg-spinner Samuel Badree because of a shoulder injury which suffered during the World T20.
In Badree's absence, RCB would be looking towards young leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who has had fairly good outings in a couple of previous IPL seasons by taking 15 wickets in 2015 and 14 wickets in 2014.
Sunrisers Hyderabad also boast of a strong line-up and has a good mix of young and experienced players in their squad.
Sunrisers would be hoping to ride on Shikhar Dhawan and skipper David Warner to give them explosive starts, while Ashish Nehra's good form with the ball might be handy.
But the Hyderabad outfit may miss the services of left-hander Yuvraj Singh early on because of injury.
Besides, Sunrisers fortune will also depend on the performances of New Zealand's run-machine Kane Williamson and England captain Eoin Morgan.
Nehra, who has been impressive in World T20 for India, will be spearheading Sunrisers' bowling attack in the company of Trent Boult and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Bangladesh's Mustafizur Rahman can also prove to be a match-winning bowler in these conditions.
Left-hander Barinder Sran, who played for India recently, is also a good prospect with the ball, while Australian all-rounders Ben Cutting and Moises Henriques are capable of contributing with both bat and ball.
Leg-spinner Karn Sharma will be leading Sunrisers' spin department along side part-timers Deepak Hooda, Bipul Sharma, Tirumalsetti Suman and Yuvraj.
Wicketkeeper Naman Ojha is capable of scoring quick runs, but he would have to battle it out against Mumbai's Aditya Tare for wicketkeeper's slot in the team.
On paper, Sunrisers may not look as strong as RCB, but they definitely cannot be taken lightly.
Teams:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (captain), Shane Watson, Stuart Binny, Kane Richardson, Samuel Badree, Travis Head, Praveen Dubey, Vikramjeet Malik, Iqbal Abdulla, Sachin Baby, Akshay Karnewar, Vikas Tokas, K L Rahul, Parvez Rasool, Abu Nechim, Harshal Patel, Kedar Jadhav, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Ahmed, S. Arvind, Varun Aaron, Yuzvendra Chahal, A B de Villiers, David Wiese, Adam Milne and Chris Gayle.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ricky Bhui, Trent Boult, Moises Henriques, Abhimanyu Mithun, Siddarth Kaul, Mustafizur Rahman, Naman Ojha, Karn Sharma, Tirumalsetti Suman, Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Nehra, Ashish Reddy, Bipul Sharma, Ben Cutting, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Eoin Morgan, Vijay Shankar, Barinder Sran, Aditya Tare, Kane Williamson.
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