The talking is almost over and it is time for the Indian Premier League extravaganza to return once again and we kick off the tenth season of competition with a repeat of the final of last year when the Sunrisers Hyderabad takes on the Royal Challengers Bangalore in a brilliant way to kick the campaign into life.
Both sides will be out to get off to a fast start. Sunrisers Hyderabad won that final last year and begin their title defence in this match while Royal Challengers Bangalore may have revenge on their minds.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
The defending champions will begin their defence of the title in good spirits with the bulk of their squad in place giving them plenty of options both for this match and the season to come. Continuity has been a big thing for the Sunrisers and the only players to come into the side look certain to improve it which is the idealism.
The Sunrisers look particularly strong with the ball and that was what much of their success was based on last season. A strong bowling attack meant that there wasn’t as much pressure on the batting line up and the likes of Dave Warner in particular relished the freedom he was given when he went out to bat.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Try as they might the Royal Challengers Bangalore just can’t get themselves over the line to pick up this trophy. Last year’s defeat in the final was their third defeat in the season finale in nine seasons so you just wonder if they carry a bit of mental baggage into the campaign with them this time around.
Usually the strength of this side is with the bat but some high profile absences for this match depletes them quite a bit so they are going to need their bowling attack to get them out of the mire in this one unless they can get an insane cameo from the ‘World Boss’ himself Chris Gayle. Relying on that isn’t a good path to success though.
Team News
The defending champions will be without Mustafizur Rahman for the opening match so Chris Jordan could be pushing for a debut against his old side. Rashid Khan looks set to play.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will be without two kingpins with the bat in Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers while Sarfaraz Khan is another one they are going to be without. Shane Watson will skipper the side with Mandeep Singh potentially opening the batting.
Betting
I can’t not take the home side here. I would have fancied them and taken them before the Kohli and de Villiers injuries so I’m more than happy to be on them with that in mind. Whenever I get involved in T20 match betting I want to be with the better bowling attack and it is definitely the Sunrisers Hyderabad who have that.
If this does turn into a shootout in some way then the Sunrisers have the batting power in Dave Warner, Shikhar Dhawan and Yuvraj Singh to go toe to toe with anyone so given that they have all bases covered barring an extraordinary individual performance I expect the Sunrisers to beat Bangalore again.
Given the Kohli and de Villiers absences we are almost invited in to have a go at the top Bangalore batsman market and with three very strong seamers opening up for the home side it could be that the middle order is the place to bat. With that in mind I’m going for Kedar Jadhav.
The keeper-batsman has been in good touch in domestic limited overs cricket and could need to play a rebuilding role. He is experienced enough in most situations now and if Hyderabad can get through the top order then Jadhav could be the one to profit from that.
Tips
WON – Back Sunrisers Hyderabad to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with BetVictor
Back them here:
Back K.Jadhav Top Royal Challengers Bangalore Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 8.00 with NetBet
Back him here:
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