IPL 2020 LIVE: RCB vs SRH – all you need to know!

Royal Challengers Bangalore will launch the campaign for their maiden Indian Premier League title. The Virat Kohli-led star-studded side will be up against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium this evening.

It will be a battle of the flamboyant Royals and lowkey Sunrisers.

While Kohli will be playing his first competitive game ever since the tour of New Zealand in January-February this year, Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper David Warner is fresh from the white ball series in England and raring to go.

It will be a glittering display of fiery willows from the likes of Kohli, Warner, Kane Williams and AB de Villiers.

RCB have always played an entertaining brand of cricket, wearing their heart on their sleeve. SRH traditionally have preferred to keep it low key while operating in the tournament. The style has clearly worked for them, helping them win their maiden IPL title in 2016.

Five players to watch out for:
There is plenty to choose across all compartments from both the teams and here are our picks.

Virat Kohli
Looking at the ease at which he was timing the ball in the nets, the forced break has clearly not affected Virat, the batsman. Coming to Virat, the captain, he has termed the current RCB unit as one of their most balanced sides since IPL 2016. Virat, who is the tournament’s leading run-getter (5412), takes great pride in leading from the front and he will be eager to drive RCB to their maiden IPL title in 2020.

David Warner
David Warner has an enviable IPL record. Period. Making a comeback, he scored 692 runs in the IPL 2019 with the help of a hundred and 8 fifties. Re-appointed as SRH skipper, Warner, opening the batting, has time and again shown that he can play the situations – be it attack at the drop of a hat or just bat through the innings, without compromising on the run-rate.

AB de Villiers
Mr 360. He has delivered the goods for RCB time and again with his agile fielding and stunning batting displays. AB de Villiers, along with Virat, has been a pillar for RCB. This season, it won’t be any different as RCB will look to kick off their IPL 2020 campaign with a win.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar
The spearhead of the SRH pace-bowling unit, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been pivotal to SRH’s fortunes along with their skipper, Warner. The right-arm pacer, who has 133 wickets against his name in the IPL, knows a thing or two about bowling at the death and at the top, and hence, will be key for SRH as they will look to contain the Virat-ABD threat in their first game of the season.

Yuzvendra Chahal
100 and counting. Yuzvendra Chahal is RCB’s leading wicket-taker and the wily leg-spinner, with a big heart, will be someone RCB will count on in the IPL 2020. On pitches in the UAE, he may just turn out to be RCB’s trump card!

Wild card:

Abdul Samad
He is just 18 but Abdul Samad has earned a reputation after his exploits in Ranji Trophy 2019-20 for Jammu and Kashmir. The youngster slammed 36 sixes and scored 592 runs at the strike-rate of close to 113. It will not be too surprising if SRH put him in the playing XI and give him a license to play the big shots from the word go.

Stats

SRH’s record at the venue: Matches 2, Won 2
RCB’s record at the venue: Matches 2, Won 1, Lost 1

Approaching Milestones

  • 1 six and AB de Villiers will complete 200 IPL sixes
  • Virat Kohli needs 88 runs to complete 5500 IPL runs
  • Siddarth Kaul needs 1 wicket to complete 50 IPL wickets

Likely XI:

Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (Captain), Jonny Bairstow, Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Wriddhiman Saha, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddharth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma and Shahbaz Nadeem.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Aaron Finch, Parthiv Patel (Wicketkeeper), Virat Kohli (Captain), AB de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal, Chris Morris, Washington Sundar, Dale Steyn, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal and Mohammed Siraj.

LIVE: The fans can catch all the action LIVE on Star Sports network Hindi, English and regional channels and Disney+ Hotstar. The toss is slated for 7:00 pm (IST) and the action will start at 7:30 pm IST.

Also read: Fantasy XI guide for RCB vs Sunrisers Hyderabad

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