Virat Kohli with Mike Hesson
Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday had their first practice session in Dubai for the impending 13th season of the Indian Premier League.
The franchise had arrived last week on August 21 and completed their mandatory period of six days of quarantine on Wednesday.
In the nets, RCB captain Virat Kohli, who hit the nets for the first time since the South Africa ODI in Dharamsala, looked sharp as he was spotted pulling a short ball. He was also seen having an intense conversation with the franchise's Director of Cricket Operations, Mike Hesson.
Besides Kohli, Dale Steyn, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Siraj and Navdeep Saini were also spotted, undergoing some bowling sessions.
RCB are still chasing their first IPL title. They made it to three finals, 2016 being their last, but have since finished at the bottom end of the table on each occasion.
One of the main concern for RCB will be their death-over bowling. But hesson believes that the addition of Chris Morris, Isuru Udana, Kane Richardson and Dale Steyn through the auction.
"We were very clear about our death bowling and wanted to make sure we got it covered. We went into the auction wanting to fix that," said Hesson at the virtual media interaction.
"We have got Udana, Morris, Richardson, Steyn. Navdeep Saini has done the job nicely and our spinners too will play a big part. We got Chahal who is exceptional bowler and a nice mix of spinners (Shahbaz Nadeem, Pawan Negi, Moeen Ali).
"We think we are not so much reliant on our batting and have a balanced unit."
