Sehwag: Kohli and home venue give Bangalore edge over Gujarat

Virender Sehwag 23:28 23/05/2016
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  • Both Kohli and De Villiers have been in sensational form.

    While I congratulate the four sides that remain in the fight for IPL glory, I can’t help but feel sorry for the Delhi Daredevils.

    They are a very good side with the right mix of youth and experience. However, despite a good start to the campaign, they lost their way in the middle and made a lot of changes to their side and strategy. Delhi paid the price for it by failing to make it to the play-offs.

    Defending champions Mumbai Indians are the other big team to miss the cut. They had some very good players, but they never looked like serious contenders for a top four finish.

    But all that’s behind us now. Of the four teams that remain in the competition, I am amazed at the results of Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad. At the half-way stage. Bangalore had to win six out of seven matches and hardly anyone gave them any chance. But credit goes to Virat Kohli for almost single-handedly taking the team to the play-offs.

    If you take Kohli out of the equation, I am sure Bangalore would not have won even half the matches they did. Yes, there have been excellent contributions from leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who is the leading wicket taker this year, and AB de Villiers as well but it is Kohli’s batting that has made all the difference.

    Hyderabad too have surprised many with their results but I always liked the look of the team. Their bowling attack has been their strong point and their skipper David Warner has led by example, which is always a good sign for a team.

    Looking at the first qualifier between Bangalore and Gujarat Lions, it looks like a contest between two vastly different teams. While Bangalore rely on two or three players, mostly Kohli, Lions are a lot more balanced side. For Gujarat, Aaron Finch, Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Smith, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja have all been reliable.

    Their skipper Suresh Raina has also been among the runs and it gives a lot of balance to the team.

    But this IPL, we have seen individual performances have overshadowed team efforts. And because the match is being played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, Royal Challengers hold the edge according to me.

    Playing in Bangalore is a tough task because it is such a high scoring venue. And Royal Challengers have two players who have a distinct advantage at home – Kohli and Chahal. While we all know what sensational form Kohli is, Chahal’s simple yet effective strategy of not trying too many variations and sticking to his strengths has made up for the absence of Samuel Badree.

    At the beginning of the IPL, Bangalore’s bowling attack was ridiculed for leaking so many runs on a consistent basis, which undid all the hard work done by the batsmen. But as the tournament has gone ahead, bowlers like Chahal and even seamer Sreenath Aravind have done enough to complement the batsmen, who have only gone from strength to strength.

    So considering all things, I back Bangalore to win on Tuesday. However, the good news for Gujarat is that even if they lose, they will get a second shot at qualification for the title clash.

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