A test of depth and strategy for RCB

Saturday, April 11, 2015
Start time 2000 IST (1430 GMT)

A batting line-up that features AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli is an unlikely candidate for reinforcements but Royal Challengers Bangalore's purchases during the 2015 auction - Dinesh Karthik, S Badrinath (along with the pre-season transfer of Manvinder Bisla) - showed just how badly the absence of strong Indian batsmen had affected the side.

Those strategies and that depth, in both batting and bowling, will be tested for the first time when they take on Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens. The defending champions began their season with a win at home against Mumbai Indians, which stretched their streak of IPL wins to 10 games on the trot. They chased down a target of 169 efficiently, led by Gautam Gambhir's aggression, but it's their bowling attack that's their forte. Knight Riders would have also taken notice of the dropped catches - Mumbai Indians were sloppier than them on the field on Wednesday but against the big-ticket Royal Challengers line-up, poor fielding could leave them with too much to catch up with.

Royal Challengers have another test: all their purchases in the auction means the side will have to crack the code of their line-up fairly quickly in the tournament.

For the second successive year, Dinesh Karthik was the second-most expensive buy at an IPL auction and comes into the tournament having enjoyed a good run of late. He finished the Ranji Trophy as the second-highest run-getter - behind Robin Uthappa, who is on the other side in this game - and in the IPL, will be expected to hold the middle and lower order together.

Used primarily as a finisher last season, Knight Riders have decided to use Suryakumar Yadav as something of a floater in the line-up. The start was promising - evidenced from his 20-ball 46 against Mumbai Indians - but consistency and discipline will decide how successful the experiement eventually will be.

"We need to get our fielding standards up. In these kind of tournaments, when you drop dangerous players, and in those situations... So these things are important."
Gautam Gambhir