The third match of the IPL 2020 will be played in Dubai on September 21 between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) from 7.30 PM IST. It is the battle between two of the most aggressive captains in IPL- David Warner and Virat Kohli.
Both the teams will be looking to get off to a winning start, given that momentum will be the one thing motivating them throughout the tournament. To do this they need their playing XIs filled with the best players possible from their squad.
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Therefore Team COC brings to you the Predicted Playing XIs of both SRH and RCB for the third match of IPL 2020, to be played in Dubai.
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD
Sunrisers Hyderabad has won the IPL trophy just once and it was by defeating Bangalore in the finals of IPL 2016. Since then, they have made it into the playoffs in the succeeding three editions of the tournament and even went into the finals in 2018.
This time, however, they will have a full-strength side on their hands with David Warner returning as captain of the team, after Kane Williamson led them in 2018 and 2019. This time Kane Williamson might find it difficult to break into the final playing XI, given the form of Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi and the spin-friendly pitches in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah on hand.
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Warner is most likely to open with England’s Jonny Bairstow who did wonders for them in IPL 2019, scoring a ton and smashed the RCB team to bits in an amazing century-plus stand at home. However, they might need to substitute Williamson at no.3 with an Indian batsman and that place might go to Wriddhiman Saha, who may also keep wickets.
Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, and Mohammad Nabi are capable enough to form a good middle order, which is able to milk the spinners in middle overs for runs and get an odd boundary here and there.
Nabi, along with the possible inclusion of Abhishek Sharma and Rashid Khan, will also play the role of a finisher as well, as SRH lacks a proper big-hitter in their lineup. Sharma may also act as a backup spin option if needed to Nabi and Rashid, who has been one of the most successful leg-spinners in IPL since his debut.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Sandeep Sharma have the guile and skills to take advantage of the slow pitches in UAE with their varieties and knuckleballs, whereas Khaleel Ahmed can be picked to provide the pace and left-arm seamer variety. They also have Billy Stanlake and Siddharth Kaul to choose from.
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have possibly the most hardcore fan base, given their inability to win a single IPL title, despite playing in the finals thrice. Since 2013, Virat Kohli has captained them and though he has done amazingly well with the bat, his captaincy has come under question.
RCB has always been targeted for their inability to find decent fast bowlers and depending too much on batsmen to do the job. It was evident in the past IPL, when their bowlers failed to defend totals of 200 on multiple occasions, and in one game, they only won by one run, despite making 205.
This time in the auction, they have seemingly addressed those issues. Aaron Finch was picked to open the innings, which he might do with the young local talent Devdutt Paddikal, giving RCB the left-right combination at the top.
This means Virat Kohli bats at no.3 and AB de Villiers at 4, which they used to do most of the time in the previous few occasions. Kohli and De Villiers are the backbones of RCB batting and in order to fit in Paddikal, De Villiers might also have to keep wickets this season and he was seen practicing his keeping skills as well.
Three all-rounders in Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, and Chris Morris, are expected to be the middle order of the RCB team, giving them ample options to move them up and down the order as per requirement.
Washington Sundar, along with Ali and Yuzvendra Chahal provides Kohli with different spin options and they have Pawan Negi in the hut as well, providing the left-arm spin capability.
Umesh Yadav and Navdeep Saini will be the first choice Indian pacers to partner Chris Morris which gives RCB an unprecedented pace attack that bowls over 145 kph regularly. All three have shown chops of bowling death overs as well.
COC Predicted Playing XI for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH):
David Warner (C), Jonny Bairstow, Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Mohammad Nabi, Abhishek Sharma, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed
COC Predicted Playing XI for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB):
Aaron Finch, Devdutt Paddikal, Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers (WK), Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Washington Sundar, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal
