A perfect opening to the IPL 2017 season awaits as the champions – Sunrisers Hyderabad – host the team they beat in the final last campaign – Royal Challengers Bangalore. With two of the favourites for the title clashing in the first match of the new season, expect some fireworks from ball one.
Last season, SRH did really well to stop the RCB juggernaut in the final. Everything looked set-up perfectly for RCB to clinch their first IPL title – they were on a brilliant run of form, Virat Kohli looked unstoppable and the final was being played at their home ground – but, SRH tore that script to shreds and went on to clinch the title, and that too by defending a total at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
That, though, is SRH's strength – they have a really good bowling attack and the captain David Warner backs his bowlers to defend any score.
No doubt, the plan will be similar on Wednesday in the IPL 2017 opener – win the toss, bat first, put on a good score and let the bowlers do what they do best.
Batting resources depleted
RCB, however, will, most likely, look to bowl first. Their strength is their batting, and they usually back themselves to chase down any score.
That strategy, though, could change for the first few matches.
RCB have already lost KL Rahul for the season, while Virat Kohli is set to miss a couple of weeks, at least, because of a shoulder injury.
Now, AB de Villiers has been hit by the injury bug as well and the South African won't be a part of the RCB team for this opening match against SRH.
That means, the Royal Challengers Bangalore's batting lineup will be seriously depleted, with the responsibility, then, lying on the shoulders of Chris Gayle and Shane Watson, who should open the innings for the team in the absences of Kohli, Rahul and De Villiers.
Watson will also be a key performer with the ball. The Australian all-rounder was outstanding with the white cherry in his hand in IPL 2016 and with the extra responsibility of captaincy – Watson will lead the side until Kohli returns – it will be interesting to see how Watson performs.
Gaylestorm to hit Hyderabad
Gayle, though, will be the most important batsman. The West Indian can be hit-and-miss, but with so many batsmen missing, RCB need "Gaylestorm" to hit Hyderabad come Wednesday. If the Gaylestorm does hit, it will be a commendable innings from the West Indian, because taking the SRH bowlers on is not an easy task.
If Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Ashish Nehra fail with the new ball, the Sunrisers Hyderabad have more than enough ammunition to fall back on, and also giving Gayle a run for the six-hitting money in this game will be David Warner, who has a point to prove in this IPL, after failing to find his touch in the Test series against India.
Warner goes slam-bang
Warner is the key batsman for the defending champions, with SRH depending on their openers – Shikhar Dhawan being the other batsman – to score the bulk of the runs. A decent platform could be enough this time around, though, because if Yuvraj Singh shows his strong recent form, the Sunrisers will have a batsman to bank on to score big in the final overs.
Batting is the main issue for SRH, and if they can show they aren't overly dependent on their top two to score all the runs, they will be there or thereabouts in their title challenge.
IPL 2017 Match 1 schedule: Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
Date: Wednesday, April 5.
Time: 8pm IST, 3.30pm BST, 10.30am ET.
Venue: Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad.
TV guide:
India: Sony Six, Sony Six HD, Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD, Sony Max.
UK: Sky Sports 2.
USA: Willow TV.
Middle East: OSN Sports Cricket HD.
Singapore: Singtel and Eleven.
Malaysia: Astro SuperSport.
South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa: SuperSport Two.
Caribbean: Flow Sports.
