IPL 2019: 5 players who can open the innings for RCB

The Royal Challengers Bangalore will begin their 2019 IPL campaign with the match against Chennai Super Kings on 23rd March. RCB, for some reason or the other, has been an underachiever in the IPL.

Despite having a bunch of superstars of T20 cricket in their side, the team has never been able to live up to expectations. Last year was the same as the Kohli's men performed poorly in all departments and failed to reach the playoffs. Owing to this poor performance, the Bangalore team released a lot of players before the auction.

The team is looking for a fresh start and bought some fresh faces at the auction too. Major changes have been made in the batting department with Virat Kohli and Ab de Villiers being the only batsmen in the team from last year.

However, in the process of a complete overhaul in the batting department, the team management seems to have forgotten to pick established openers in the team. Devdutt Padikkal and Parthiv Patel are the only players who are specialised openers and none of those players is sure of a place in the playing XI.

In the absence of an established opener, here are 5 players who can open the innings for RCB:

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#5 Moeen Ali

Moeen Ali hits one out of the park

Moeen Ali made his IPL debut in 2018. The England all-rounder played 5 matches as he took 3 wickets and scored 77 runs. Moeen batted in the middle order and lower middle-order in the matches he played in IPL 2018.

However, he has previously opened the innings for England in ODI and T20 cricket. The 31-year-old is a good player of spin and has an aggressive style of batting and hence Kohli might be tempted to send him to open the innings.

Also, Ali being a left-handed batsman might provide a left hand-right hand combination right at the top for RCB.

#2 Washington Sundar

Sundar has opened the innings in TNPL

Washington Sundar was one of the players to watch out for in IPL 2018. The youngster had made an impressive start to his international career by being the man-of-the-series in the Nidahas trophy and was supposed to play a huge role for RCB.

But unfortunately, Sundar failed to extend his purple patch as he picked up just 4 wickets in 7 matches while leaking runs at a poor economy of 9.60 runs per over. Sundar did not get many chances with the bat as he batted in the lower order.

Things got worse for the youngster as he lost his place in the Indian team because of an injury. However, Sundar is fit and raring to go. Apart from his off-spin bowling, Sundar will be keen to contribute with the bat too.

The 19-year-old has opened the innings for his state side in the limited-overs tournaments this season. RCB will be a better side if Sundar can contribute with the bat too.

#3 Marcus Stoinis

Australia has used Stoinis as an opener in a few matches

Kings XI Punjab dished out big bucks for Marcus Stoinis in IPL 2018. However, Stoinis failed to contribute much with the ball or with the bat. Following this lacklustre performance, the Kings traded Stoinis with RCB for local boy Mandeep Singh in the trade window.

Stoinis has been in good form for Australia off late. The all-rounder has become a key member of Australia's ODI and T20 sides. He impressed Virat Kohli with his recent performance against Team India on Australia's tour of India with Kohli going on to say that Stoinis is an impact player.

The Australian all-rounder was used as an opener in the T20 series against India. Even though the experiment did not pay rich dividends, RCB might have taken note of it and might try Stoinis as an opener for a few matches. If Stoinis can perform as an opener, it can provide great balance to RCB.

#2 Parthiv Patel

Parthiv has years of experience behind him

Perhaps the only established opener in the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad in IPL 2019 is Parthiv Patel. Parthiv is among the few players who have played every season of the IPL thus far.

He has played for as many as 6 different franchises and has years of experience of playing in the IPL. Parthiv was part of RCB's squad last year too, but with the likes of Quinton de Kock and Brendon McCullum in the side, he got just 6 games in which he performed decently scoring 153 runs at an average of 30.60.

With Heinrich Klaasen being the only other wicket-keeper in the squad, Parthiv is set to be the regular wicket-keeper of the team. The southpaw, who has 125 IPL games under his belt, is not afraid of going after the fast bowlers and can play attacking cricket at the top order.

#1 Virat Kohli

Kohli is set to be the designated opener for RCB in IPL 2019

Virat Kohli is one of the most successful batsmen in World Cricket in all formats. The Indian skipper has achieved everything except for an IPL title. Kohli has given his best for RCB but the team has failed to win its maiden IPL title thus far.

However, with a new look side, Kohli will be hoping for a change in fortunes for RCB this year. Talking about his personal form, the 30-year-old has been in good form off late and will be extremely crucial for RCB's chances this year.

Even though he has batted in the middle order for most parts of his IPL career, Kohli has often expressed his desire to open the innings and has done that in a lot of matches in the past few seasons.

Perhaps this might be the primary reason why RCB did not opt for specialised openers at the auction, as Kohli could be one of the designated openers for the team.