Royal Challengers Bangalore will open their campaign in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League on Monday when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad. RCB skipper Virat Kohli will be eager to set things in the right direction with a win against his neighboring rivals. RCB had finished with a wooden spoon last season and this year they will be eager to silence the critics.
Game 1 victory is important to Kohli for one more reason. If RCB beats SRH on Tuesday, it will be Kohli’s 50th win as RCB captain.
If he manages to reach the mark, Kohli will become 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).
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Kohli is also 20 runs away from overtaking Shane Watson to become the leading scorer against SRH in IPL runs. He also needs an additional 10 sixes to bring his IPL tally of sixes to 200. If he manages to do so, Kohli will become the fourth hitter to reach the benchmark 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 season opener for RCB at IPL is 113.53. Kohli has scored 235 runs in 11 innings in RCB’s first game of the season over the years, and SRH will be wary of the threat he poses.
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