Chennai: Virat Kohli led Royal Challengers Bangalore will be eyeing a second win against two time IPL winners Sunrisers Hyderabad here in Chennai after registering a resounding tournament opener win against the two-time defending champion Mumbai Indians. Sunrisers were defeated by the Kolkata Knight Riders in their first match
In more good news for RCB after their opening day win is the return of their opening batsman Devdutt Padikkal who has recovered from the Covid-19. Padikall said that he has attained full fitness and is eager to replicate his splendid domestic form in the IPL also.
Karnataka based Paddikal in his debut season last year had scored 473 runs in 15 matches with five half centuries. If due to any reason, Padikkal is left out of playing eleven then Washington Sundar could open the innings along with captain Virat Kohli. Along with Kohli, AB de Villiers and Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell are the mainstays of RCB with Indian rookie Azharuddeen and Australian leg spinner Adam Zampa can also be handy.
On the other hand, Sunrisers Hyderabad David Warner has a good record against RCB. Englishman Bairstow is in good. He scored 61 runs off 44 balls while playing in the middle order.
SRH head coach Trevor Bayliss said New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is not in contention for match against RCB. The coach said Bhuneshwar Kumar, T. Natarajan, Rashid Khan and Mohammed Nabi form a good bowling unit that can hold the aggressive RCB batting lineup. In the previous match, Abdul Samad smashed an unbeaten cameo of 19 off only 8 balls and it is expected he will carry his form.