With just three wins from nine matches, Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore simply can’t afford another defeat as they take on table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL on Monday.
Bangalore’s batting has flattered to deceive so far and they shouldn’t expect any respite against the most balanced bowling attack of the tournament. Afghan spin ace Rashid Khan is having another fine tournament but its Sunrisers’ Indian pace attack that has been a revelation.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is back leading the attack that has the highly impressive Sandeep Sharma (six wickets from five games, economy 5.3) and Siddarth Kaul (12 wickets from nine matches, economy 7.1).
Likely line-ups
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Alex Hales, Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson (c), Manish Pandey, Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Parthiv Patel (wk), Brendon McCullum, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Colin de Grandhomme, Murugan Ashwin, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
