IPL 2019: Royal Challengers Bangalore team preview - The Beats

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Thursday, March 21, 2019

IPL 2019: Royal Challengers Bangalore team preview

By Omkar Narvekar

RCB 2019
Royal Challengers Bangalore has had a reputation of being a team of big players. Albeit losing Chris Gayle in the previous season, they have managed to maintain the reputation. However, managing a team with cricketing stars is not a walk in the park. As they say, ‘Too many cooks spoil the broth,’ it is probably true in the case of RCB. IPL history is proof that, not all strong teams on paper do well. Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) is a recent example from last season. 
Like every year, this year too, RCB have a star-studded team, led by Virat Kohli. The biggest addition to their side in this season would be Shimron Hetmyer. Hetmyer is the modern T20 players, a hard hitter who starts destruction right from the word go. Kohli will again lead the team from front, maybe along with Parthiv Patel. Then there is AB de Villiers, Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Pawan Negi, Himmat Singh, Heinrich Klaasen, Washington Sundar, Moeen Ali, Colin de Grandhomme among others. It would be excited to see de Villiers back in action post his sudden retirement from international cricket. 
There is a bit lack of experience in the bowling for RCB. They do not have a death over specialist. We noticed in last season how the team leaked runs in the death over, which saw them out of qualifiers. Talking about specialist bowlers with experience there is Tim Southee, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Umesh Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. But none of them have good record bowling in the death. This is a worrisome area for RCB. The other bowlers are Mohammed Siraj, Kulwant Khejroliya, Navdeep Saini and Prayas Ray Burman.
Apart from IPL success and fame, Kohli’s workload will be of great concern. He is the best batsmen in the Indian squad and backbone of the batting line-up. He will have to manage his load — both physical and mental— wisely. With a fragile middle-order, India cannot afford to lose Kohli. 
Probable XI
Parthiv Patel (wk), Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers, Shimron Hetmyer, Himmat Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Washington Sundar, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kulwant Khejroliya

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