IPL 2020: AB de Villiers stars as Team Chahal beats Team Kohli in RCB's intra-squad practice match
Royal Challengers Bangalore organized an intra-squad match for the tune-up to the 13th edition of IPL where they will face SunRisers Hyderabad in their first game on September 21. The RCB players were divided among two teams led by skipper Virat Kohli and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. In the exciting clash, AB de Villiers was the star with the bat for Team Chahal in the victory over Team Kohli.
RCB Director of cricket Mike Hesson said they divided the teams on the basis of match-ups to provide balance in both squads in the terms of left-right batting combinations or spinners with different variations.
"We looked about match-ups. We wanted our opening bowlers to bowl to left and right-handers. We wanted to look at some possibilities in terms of partnerships. We also provide in each team, leg-spinners, off-spinners, left-arm spinners to each team so that we could provide with those match-ups which they are likely to face in a week's time," Hesson said.
Team Chahal had the likes of Devdutt Padikkal, Umesh Yadav and Navdeep Saini alongside De Villiers in the squad. While, Kohli's team had Isuru Udana, Chris Morris, Parthiv Patel and Mohammed Siraj as the key players.
AB de Villiers slammed 43 runs off 33 balls while opening for Team Chahal as they set a competitive total on the board. Young Devdutt Padikkal also looked in good touch while opening the innings with ABD. Washington Sundar, who was part of Team Kohli, picked two wickets for just 11 runs.
Chasing the target, Kohli opened the innings alongside Parthiv Patel as both the batsmen looked in good touch. While, Chris Morris, who was bought for whopping INR 10 crore in 2020 auction, also slogged some ball in the later stage of the innings. Shahbaz Ahmed was the pick of the bowler for Team Chahal as he scalped 3 wickets for 13 runs.
After the game, Hesson said it was a tough wicket to bat on as Team Chahal did well to beat Team Kohli in a competitive contest. He also indicated that Chahal will be a crucial part of the leadership group of RCB in upcoming IPL.
"We want Yuzi to be part of our leadership group where he brings a different perspective. Looks after that spin bowling group of ours. We want him to think a little bit more about the game and bring that out," Hesson said.
RCB are still missing overseas players like Aaron Finch, Moeen Ali, Adam Zampa and Josh Philippe in training camp, who will soon join them after the completion of England vs Australia series.
