IPL 2019: Top XI for Royal Challengers Bangalore
IPL 2019 starts on the 23rd of March, which is less than a month from now. The teams have come off a very good auction in December, and going by the names on paper, all these teams look capable enough of lifting the trophy.
While every team would have already instructed their think tank with the specific work allotments, the team management would have also thought of the XI players who will be featuring on the field in the first few matches of the IPL.
Let's have a look at the top XI players selected by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). These players might be the ones the team would like to play.
Top Order
The top order will have Parthiv Patel opening the innings. Parthiv has played with many teams in the IPL and has been successful in giving starts to his team on various occasions. Along with him will be the skipper, Virat Kohli.
The latter will be opening the innings this year, while AB de Villiers will be coming in at No. 3. Both Kohli and de Villiers have been the pillars of RCB for years now, especially in the 2016 season, where the Kohli-de Villiers pair had wreaked havoc. They will once again have a huge part to play in RCB's fortunes.
Next in line will be West Indies batsman Shimron Hetmyer. He shot into limelight in the series against India last year, and that became the reason why he will be making his IPL debut this year. With his inclusion, RCB's strong batting line-up just got a lot more stronger.
Middle Order
The middle order starts with Marcus Stoinis at No. 5. Stoinis has been in good touch since the Big Bash League. He will be hoping to do justice to the trade that RCB have done for him, and brought him from KXIP.
However, after Stoinis, the recognized batsmen are over. Next in line is Shivam Dubey, who will be making his debut this season in the IPL. Following him will be Washington Sundar, a player who has been blowing hot and cold. He is a quality spinning all-rounder and on the back of this ability, he has played for the Indian T20 side as well. However, this year, he will have to prove his worth for RCB and perform big.
Bowling Attack
RCB's bowling on paper is very strong. This attack starts with Umesh Yadav, who had a good IPL last year, taking wickets early on in the innings. Umesh Yadav is surely going to play in the line-up. He will be followed by Yuzvendra Chahal. This premium leggie has been doing wonders for India and has been consistently doing wonders for RCB.
Now the remaining two selections are where the team will need to sit down and scratch their head. Either they go with Pawan Negi and Tim Southee, should they want to strengthen their batting, or they might go with Mohammed Siraj along with either Coulter-Nile or Southee. This will be a puzzle that will be solved after a couple of matches are played.
However, this RCB line-up does look like one fierce team. Their batting at the top is something to watch out for. Whether this trophy comes to Bangalore finally this year, is what we will have to find out, though. There is a chance that it might come very close, if not completely.
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