Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli feels that his batting lineup will flourish during the eighth season of the IPL) which is set to start from Wednesday.
RCB roped in wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik and Subramanium Badrinath in this year's IPL auction. They also bought former West Indies captain Darren Sammy, who was previously with the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Kohli feels that RCB have depth in their batting lineup this season, and, therefore, they will come up with stellar performances.
"This season is pretty different for us because for the last three or maybe four years myself, Chris and AB have played under a lot of pressure because the batting revolved around the three of us," said Kohli at the jersey launch.
Team RCB have lacked that winning mentality, having failed over the years to make it to the big stage. The last and only time when they reached the finals of this tournament was back in 2009 in South Africa where they bowed down to the Adam Gilchrist-led Deccan Chargers. Kohli and his men in red will look to turn the fortunes in their favour and clinch their first IPL title.
When asked about the other teams in the IPL, Kohli said: "If you look at the few other teams, they have a lot of depth in their batting which meant the guys could go and express themselves and play freely, and that worked for them."
Chris Gayle will look to lead from the front with the likes of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Dinesh Karthik and and to follow. That lineup speaks volumes and most of them are also capable of sending the ball out of the park.
Kohli reflected on his batting lineup. "It is a very strong batting unit this time and we have got really good depth with great mixture of Indian youngsters and great bowlers from around the world and some good power hitters," he said.
"This season the three of us can play the way we always wanted to play in T20 cricket like you see AB, playing the way he did in the World Cup."
RCB will take on the defending champions KKR in their first match at Eden Gardens on 11 April. It will not be an easy encounter for sure as KKR have one of the best bowling attacks.
