After losing both of their opening encounters, Royal Challengers Bangalore would be eager to notch up their first victory of the season as they travel to Hyderabad to take on the Sunrisers on Sunday.
The task won't be easy for the Royal Challengers as they would be facing a side that is coming into this match on the back of a superb victory over Rajasthan Royals at the same venue. The Sunrisers are a very strong team. They are well rounded in all three departments and are looking even stronger this year after bolstering the batting lineup with the acquisition of player like Jonny Bairstow and Vijay Shankar.
Bangalore, on the other hand, have their share of problems despite having world famous players in their squad. Their fast bowling lineup is pretty inexperienced. They need to address some selection concerns. Colin de Grandhomme has looked totally clueless as an all-rounder in the previous two innings. It's time for skipper Virat Kohli to call up his champion bowler Tim Southee into the squad. His experience is required in a crunch game like this.
The concerns don't end here for them. Their star batsman AB de Villiers averages only around 15 at this venue whereas most other batsmen from the two sides average over 30 at least. So it remains to be seen how he fares in this game. All the Sunrisers players—David Warner, Rashid Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in particular—are absolute beasts at home. So it would only
After losing both of their opening encounters, Royal Challengers Bangalore would be eager to notch up their first victory of the season as they travel to Hyderabad to take on the Sunrisers on Sunday.
The task won't be easy for the Royal Challengers as they would be facing a side that is coming into this match on the back of a superb victory over Rajasthan Royals at the same venue. The Sunrisers are a very strong team. They are well rounded in all three departments and are looking even stronger this year after bolstering the batting lineup with the acquisition of player like Jonny Bairstow and Vijay Shankar.
Bangalore, on the other hand, have their share of problems despite having world famous players in their squad. Their fast bowling lineup is pretty inexperienced. They need to address some selection concerns. Colin de Grandhomme has looked totally clueless as an all-rounder in the previous two innings. It's time for skipper Virat Kohli to call up his champion bowler Tim Southee into the squad. His experience is required in a crunch game like this.
The concerns don't end here for them. Their star batsman AB de Villiers averages only around 15 at this venue whereas most other batsmen from the two sides average over 30 at least. So it remains to be seen how he fares in this game. All the Sunrisers players—David Warner, Rashid Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in particular—are absolute beasts at home. So it would only take a Himalayan effort from the Royal Challengers to topple these beasts.
Weather and Pitch Conditions
Weather is expected to remain clear. The pitch was generally around the slower side in the previous game but it still saw scores of 190+ across both innings. The pitch might slow down further for this game.
Predicted XI
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Kane Williamson, Vijay Shankar, Yusuf Pathan, Manish Pandey, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shahbaz Nadeem, Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Parthiv Patel, Moeen Ali, AB de Villiers, Shimron Hetmyer, Shivam Dube, Colin de Grandhomme/Tim Southee, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj
Player Recommendations
Wicket-keeper
Jonny Bairstow (8.5 Cr)
The England International gas made a very good start to his IPL career with scores of 34 and 45 in back to back innings. He has looked compact, steady and assured at the crease, and has played his every shot with supreme confidence. You can bank on him to keep his good run going.
Batsman
David Warner (10.5 Cr)
The Southpaw has already lit up the IPL with scores of 85 and 69 in back to back innings. He will face a pretty inexperience Bangalore bowling unit in this match and hence, he can be expected to carry on the rampage.
All-Rounder
Vijay Shankar (8.5 Cr)
He may not bowl enough overs but he will bat at No 4 for Hyderabad. He has already played a couple of useful cameos in these two games and should carry on the good work in the next match as well.
Bowler
Rashid Khan (9.5 Cr)
Any day, any ground, any situation, and you can bank on him to pick wickets. The Afghan International is a terrific spin bowler and his variations are pretty hard to pick. You can pick him even with your eyes closed. The fragile RCB middle order should also allow him to dictate terms in the game.
Captain: David Warner
Vice-Captain: Rashid Khan
