The Royal Challengers Bangalore will open up their campaign in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League on Monday when they face off against Sunrisers Hyderabad. RCB skipper Virat Kohli will be eager to get things rolling in the right direction with a win against their neighbouring rivals. RCB had finished with a wooden spoon last season and they will be eager to silence the critics this year.
The win in the first game is important for Kohli for one more reason. If RCB beat SRH on Tuesday, it will be Kohli’s 50th win as RCB captain.
If he manages to reach the mark, Kohli will become only the fourth captain to do so after Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni (101), former Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir (71), and Mumbai Indians’ Rohit Sharma (60).
Kohli is also 20 runs short of surpassing Shane Watson to become the leading run-scorer against SRH in IPL. He also needs 10 more sixes to take his sixes tally in IPL to 200. If he manages to do that, Kohli will become only the 4th batsman to reach the landmark after Chris Gayle (326), AB de Villiers (212), and MS Dhoni (209).
An interesting point to note is that Virat’s strike rate in the opening game of the season for RCB in IPL is 113.53. Kohli has scored 235 runs in 11 innings in the RCB’s opening game of the season over the years, and SRH will be wary of the threat he poses.
