IPL 2020: SRH vs RCB Game Plan 3- The Rashid Khan threat
The third match of the IPL 2020 tournament between the blockbuster teams, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore, could all be about match-ups. We take a look at a key game plan that could play a role in the third game of IPL 2020 – SRH vs RCB.
SRH vs RCB – The Rashid Khan threat
Ever since Gayle’s departure, the major responsibility of scoring runs for RCB has been on Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers – as obvious. After Moeen Ali showed some promise last year, RCB got Aaron Finch to add more firepower in their batting line-up. It seems that Devdutt Padikkal, the southpaw, will play as well.
Also Read: IPL 2020: SRH vs RCB Game Plan 1- David Warner and Jonny Bairstow seem too hot for RCB bowlers
Finch, Moeen and Padikkal should help RCB in encountering the Rashid Khan threat. Kohli and ABD have struggled against Rashid Khan in the recent past years. Rashid bowls enough googlies and the duo have an issue in reading such deliveries. This implies that Kohli and ABD should play out Khan while others could attack him.
The issue with Finch is that he has a poor record in the Asian nations as he discussed in this article. Thus, RCB would want him to adjust better to the decks and help them in encountering Rashid – against whom he has a very good record in recent times.
Also Read: IPL 2020: SRH vs RCB Game Plan 2- SRH’s vulnerable middle-order and the Chahal threat
Even though Rashid, in recent times, has found it hard to get his line and length right consistently but he is too good to not get that touch again. If he bowls well, RCB players should look not to take a lot of risks against him. The southpaws can pick certain balls to score quick runs.
If RCB manage to tackle Rashid well, their job will get easier against other bowlers. As mentioned in this article, RCB have not done very well against the off-spinners in recent years. Thus, it is easy to think Nabi can cause troubles for RCB. However, that should not be the case, ideally. As mentioned in the article, Kohli needs to upgrade his intent against Kohli. Finch is a very good batsman against off-spin bowling. De Villiers too doesn’t have any skill issues against such bowlers.
It will be interesting to see how the SRH pacers operate. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has not been at his best in recent times, however, a break would have helped him. Sandeep Sharma is a decent bowler in the powerplay phase, however, he wasn’t great in IPL 2019. However, the main issue for SRH is Khaleel Ahmed. Even though Khaleel had a good outing in the IPL last year, it is unlikely that he can cause some serious trouble to RCB batters.
What RCB need to do is maintain a balance between attack and defence against Rashid; and be a bit cautious against Bhuvi and Sandeep in the powerplay. The death overs batting should not be an issue against SRH if RCB escape the mentioned threats. Kohli, ABD and Finch are very good batsmen in the slog overs. SRH don’t have an express pacer to trouble Moeen either. RCB will be better served if they maintain the LHB-RHB combo.