It’s Dosa vs Biryani today for the IPL2020 eliminator in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi today will witness the first ‘real’ knockout game of the IPL 2020. Appropriately termed the ‘Eliminator’ the loser from this one will be on the next flight home. The eliminator for this year’s IPL has a superstar cast, with Virat Kohli and David Warner in the lead roles. They are ably supported by a fabulous support cast in AB de Villiers, Kane Williamson, Rashid Khan, Devdutt Padikkal, Jason Holder et al. A blockbuster beckons!
Royal Challengers Bangalore Lineup
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are one of the best supported franchises of IPL and valued at around 98 million USD (Duff and Phelps) they are third on the Brand Value list too, lagging only behind Mumbai and Kolkata. Another massive advantage for them is the fact that they are led by the current India captain, the king himself, Virat Kohli. But even with all that, RCB have zero titles to show for it in 12 attempts.
Bangalore has had the same problems in the last half a decade or so now. Constant changes to the playing eleven. As we speak, Aaron Finch the white ball captain for Australia is out of the Bangalore team. It’s true that he has not played as well as he can, but you can’t just drop him that unceremoniously. A decision like that affects the morale of others in the team too. The players might think, if the Australian captain can be dropped wonder who has a safe position in the team. This mindset generally hinders fearless cricket.
The same is the story of Moeen Ali, he has been in and out every few games this season, and each time he has come back into the team he has looked that much worse for it. Gurkeerat, Dube, all have been part of the musical chair. This approach to team selection is not a one-off this season, this is more like the RCB template. And if you look around other IPL teams, chances are you will find an ex RCB player playing for them, such has been the frequency of changes to the squad as well. Unless they change this approach, it will be difficult for RCB to go on and win the tournament, a lesson for the future perhaps.
RCB is a team on the way down, they have lost their last four matches, going down to a despondent Delhi Capitals in the last game, which should tell you where Bangalore is form wise. The franchise still doesn’t know its best eleven, is still unclear about its opening combination, still not sure of the four best foreign players, everything it seems is up in the air at the moment. One thing that might go in their favour is the fast nature of pitches on display for the knockout matches here in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Let’s try and figure out their best possible starting lineup.
RCB should have Aaron Finch back in the starting eleven. The nature of pitches will aid his stroke play, and for the knockout match you want some experience in the mix too. So they should have him open with Devdutt Padikkal. At three and four, will be Virat and ABD. Nothing to change there, they should be at 3 and 4 no matter what. At 5 is Moeen Ali, the man from England has to play, he is a World Cup winner for crying out loud, so start with him Virat must, and use his off spin too if needed.
At 6 will be Shivam Dube, on a pitch with good carry he can play the big shots. At 7 I will have Chris Morris, this man has been good for Bangalore since his return from injury and Bangalore will hope he performs in this game too. At 8 will be Washington Sundar, the offie must bowl in the powerplay, that’s his strength not bowling in the middle overs. RCB would hope to see Saini back for this one at 9. Siraj and Chahal complete the lineup at 10 and 11.
This should be the bowling template for RCB. Virat should refrain from using Shivam Dube, if he must use a 6th bowling option, Moeen Ali is a much better option. Siraj must bowl at the start, along with Washington Sundar. Washington should bowl through, and Saini should replace him in the middle overs. Middle overs have to be controlled by Chahal, and if need be Moeen gets a look in. Then a strong finish by Saini and Morris at the end.
In the batting department, RCB will do well to ape Mumbai for a change. They must not let fall of wickets slow them down, must keep going for the shots, with good pitches and the ball coming on, it shouldn’t be a problem. Virat in particular must change his game plan, he is using up way too many balls to get set and unfortunately this season he has not been able to hit big shots and make up for it at the end. The best thing for him would be to not put undue pressure on himself and just bat instinctively, see ball-hit ball, as the old adage goes.
Sunrisers Hyderabad Lineup
Sun Risers Hyderabad have made a gallant comeback. They were written off by most at the halfway stage, but they have triumphed against all odds, and here they are fighting for the trophy. Bravo!
I will give a lot of credit to the existing part of the leadership group in Warner, Williamson and VVS laxman. The new addition, World Cup winning coach with England, Trevor Baylis needs a special mention too. They have got the best out of youngsters like Natarajan, Abdul Samad, Priyam Garg etc, and old war horses like Wriddhiman Saha, Sahbaz Nadeem too are starting to flourish under them.
What an inspired idea it was to drop Baristow and open with Wriddhiman. It must have been a tough call, after all Baristow is an England white ball regular, a fabulous player and a World Cup winner. But they made the right choice and Wriddhiman hasn’t let the team down. In hindsight, it has made David Warner play freely too, he knows he is not the anchor now, so he has gone for it in the powerplays and it has come off and how!
I hope Ponting is watching this, an English coach dropping an English player for the greater good of the team, whereas he kept playing Carrey his countryman where he could have easily kept wickets with Hetmyer, food for thought that.
The SunRisers Hyderabad have a settled line up now, they will open with Warner and Wriddhiman. At three will be Manish Pandey, the man has been hitting the ball like a dream in this IPL. At 4 they will have the Mozart from New Zealand, Kane Williamson. At 5 it’s either Vijay Shankar or Priyam Garg, I will go with Shankar if he is fit. At 6 is hard hitting Abdul Samad. At 7 is the West Indian red ball captain Jason Holder. This man has brought a lot of balance to the Hyderabad based outfit, with his abilities with both bat and ball. 8, 9, 10, 11 are the bowlers Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, T. Natarajan and Shahbaz Nadeem. Although on a new fast pitch, Khaleel might play ahead of Shahbaz Nadeem. The most impressive part about SRH has been their bowling. That they have set plans for each batsman from the opposition is clear as day, and the best part is that the bowlers actually execute those plans.
Hyderabad have been a team on the rise, they are peaking at the right time, and are looking good to advance to playoff 2.
#MyPrediction
SunRisers Hyderabad should win this one without breaking much sweat.
Will be a good game though, a must watch.
