Sunil Gavaskar, the legendary Indian opening batsman believes that star duo skipper Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers should open the batting for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2020 to take maximum advantage of better conditions at the beginning of an innings.
Virat Kohli is the leading run-scorer in IPL while AB De Villiers is 9th on the list of leading run-scorers. While the skipper Virat Kohli has scored 5412 runs from 177 matches, AB De Villiers has 4395 runs from 154 IPL matches.
Sunil Gavaskar: Best Batsmen Should Bat Early As Batting Will Be Difficult Later As Scoring Off Spinners Will Be Difficult
The latest edition of the IPL will be played in the UAE where the slow, turning wickets will make run-scoring difficult. In his column for Sportstar, Sunil Gavaskar wrote that the side’s best batsmen should go into bat as early as possible because it will be difficult to score off-spinners later.
“On pitches that will get slower, it may be a good idea to have both the champion batsmen open the batting while the ball is hard and new and will come on to the bat nicely than when the spinners are operating. Leggie Yuzvendra Chahal could be a match winner for RCB on those pitches,” Gavaskar, who was the first batsman to reach 10,000 Test runs, wrote.
The former India captain finds it very surprising that RCB have not won the IPL yet despite having some of the biggest names in their side. The franchise has appointed Mike Hesson as director of cricket operations, and Sunil Gavaskar is hoping their fortunes change in IPL 2020.
“Why a team like Royal Challengers Bangalore hasn’t won the title as yet is a puzzle. Any team that has Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers should never be short of runs and maybe that’s also a problem, for when these two failed, as humans sometimes do, then the others haven’t put their hands up. They have a new coach and will be hoping that this will be their year,” the former India opener wrote.
RCB have finished as runners up in 2009,2011 and 2016 and have reached playoffs in 2010 and 2015 also.
Sunil Gavaskar Feels Delhi Capitals Have The Best Chance Among The Trio Who Never Won IPL Even Once
Another IPL franchise that has never won the coveted title is Delhi Capitals. And Sunil Gavaskar feels that the Delhi Capitals have the best chance – among the three teams that have never had their name engraved on the trophy – to break that jinx this year. The third team is the Kings XI Punjab.
“Out of those three, the Delhi Capitals team looks to have the best chance as it has some of the most explosive batsmen in the world. Its bowling attack can also prosper on the slow surfaces of the Emirates which will get slower as the tournament progresses… They will learn from him (Ricky Ponting) how every match matters and how not to be satisfied with anything less than a 100 percent effort in every game,” Gavaskar added.
While RCB finished runners-up thrice, Delhi Capitals formerly Delhi Daredevils has never made it to the finals. In IPL 2019, the Shreyas Iyer-led side reached their first playoffs since 2012.