Gear up folks, the most awaited T20 extravaganza is finally here, the judgement day or we should call in a rematch is on as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) look to avenged their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016 final defeat against the defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Stand-in captain Shane Watson has a big responsibility on his shoulders and will be under pressure as he will be playing away from the RCB home ground. The SRH vs RCB IPL 2017 opener will be held at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad.
SRH will be in high spirits as they will not have to face the destructive duo of IPL 2016 — Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers who haunted many teams in the previous season. There is no doubt about who will open the batting of SRH as skipper Warner himself will be leading the batting lineup alongside Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan who has been out of the Indian side for a while and will be looking to prove himself ahead of ICC Champions Trophy 2017 in June.
He will be followed by India’s in-form batsman Yuvraj Singh as he was devastating in the recent series against England. Though, there is a doubt whether he would come at No.3 as Tanmay Agarwal is in the side as well. Agarwal did reasonably well in the domestic T20 league, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2016-17.
Moises Henriques will find a place in the side as he can do damage with both bat and ball, he was pretty economical for them in the previous season with the ball but could not contribute much with the bat. There is no doubt about who will keep the wickets for them in the IPL opener as Naman Ojha will find a place in the side as wicketkeeper-batsman.
Deepak Hooda too could do well in the middle order and he has proved that in the previous seasons, he will find a place in the side for owing to his destructive nature. Then comes another Australian all-rounder who can find a place in the side. Ben Cutting had a brilliant Big Bash League 2016-17, he might get a nod ahead of his competitor Chris Jordan who is famous for his death bowling.
The Afghanistan spinner, Rashid Khan, the young kid who made big bucks in the IPL Player Auction too is expected to play in the IPL opener, well, they did not spend big bucks on him to warm the benches.
The fast-bowling department is pretty much sorted even in the absence of Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman who is not available for the opening match. Bhuvnehswar Kumar will be leading the attack alongside veteran fast bowler Ashish Nehra. The left-arm fast bowler is making a comeback after he suffered an injury. The last man in the side will be Barinder Sran who impressed everyone in the previous season.
Sunrisers Hyderabad probable XI: David Warner (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Tanmay Agarwal, Yuvraj Singh, Moises Henriques, Naman Ojha (wk), Ben Cutting, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Barinder Sran, Ashish Nehra
Coming to Royal Challengers Bangalore side they will be bringing in reinforcements to fill up the space left vacant by injured players. With KL Rahul and skipper Kohli out of the side due to injury. Watson is certain to open the innings alongside the mighty Chris Gayle. Both are capable inflicting maximum damage to any bowling side and have experience against the SRH strike bowlers.
Domestic player Mandeep Singh who has performed well up the order will be coming after the big hitters. The right-handed batsmen has proved himself in the previous season. With big guns gone from the side he will be expected to up the tempo early on in the innings if a wicket falls.
He is expected to be followed by Travis Head, he can handle the fast-bowling quite well and keeping in mind SRH bowling attack, he is the right man for the job in absence of de Villiers, though he can never match the talent of Mr. 360!
He will be backed up by India’s new-found finisher Kedar Jadhav who took on the English bowlers in the recent ODI series and bashed them up with his serious hitting. Jadhav might put an end to RCB’s quest for a wicketkeeper-batsman in Rahul and De Villiers’ absence.
Sachin Baby is expected to make it into the side as he can score quick, he will be the near-perfect replacement for Sarfaraz Khan who got injured in a practice match before the tournament and has been ruled out of IPL 2017.
Stuart Binny should get a nod ahead of Pawan Negi who was impactless in the previous season playing for Delhi Daredevils (DD). Binny can be useful down the order and can slow down the rate in middle overs as well. He will be followed by Iqbal Abdullah who has proved effective with his spin bowling and batting as well. He helped RCB chase down a total after they suffered a batting collapse in previous edition qualifiers.
There is no doubt about Yuzvendra Chahal being picked up in the side, he was the highest wicket-taker in the previous edition. He is brave when it comes to spin bowling and is capable of providing breakthroughs in middle and death overs. Here comes the pick of the season, Aniket Choudhary, he might get a nod ahead of Sreenath Aravind as RCb spent big bucks on the left-arm fast bowler. Fun fact: he helped Indian batsmen to train for the likes of Mitchell Starc before Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2017.
Tymal Mills will be leading the RCB bowling attack, he will be the key player all along the tournament as he is filling up for Starc who suffered an injury in Bengaluru Test. Mills has been effective for England as well as in Natwest T20 trophy. His slower ball in the India vs England T20 series stunned Yuvraj Singh in his prime. It will be interesting to watch whether he pulls it off again and justifies the Rs. 12 crore price tag.
SRH vs RCB head-to-head
Both the teams have played 9 games against each other and it has been an evenly matched contest as RCB and SRH have won four matches each with one yielding no result. We will witness today who will take a lead over the other in much awaited IPL 2017 opener.
Royal Challengers Bangalore probable XI: Chris Gayle, Shane Watson (c), Mandeep Singh, Travis Head, Kedar Jadhav (wk), Sachin Baby, Stuart Binny, Iqbal Abdullah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Aniket Choudhary, Tymal Mills
Squads:
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (c), Naman Ojha (wk), Eklavya Dwivedi (wk), Kane Williamson, Ashish Nehra, Yuvraj Singh, Moises Henriques, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanmay Agarwal, Barinder Sran, Ricky Bhui, Bipul Sharma, Ben Cutting, Ben Laughlin, Chris Jordan, Abhimanyu Mithun, Pravin Tambe, Deepak Hooda, Siddarth Kaul, Mohammed Siraj, Vijay Shankar
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers (injured), Virat Kohli (injured), Sarfaraz Khan (injured), Shane Watson, Kedar Jadhav, Stuart Binny, Iqbal Abdullah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sreenath Aravind, Tymal Mills, Avesh Khan, Samuel Badree, Praveen Dubey, Travis Head, Mandeep Singh, Adam Milne, Pawan Negi, Harshal Patel, Sachin Baby, Tabraiz Shamsi, Billy Stanlake, Aniket Choudhary
