IPL 2019: Rating the Best Possible Opening Combinations of all the 8 IPL Teams

#7 Royal Challengers Bangalore

Shimron Hetmeyer

Possible Openers:

1. Devdutt Padikkal
2. Heinrich Klassen
3. Parthiv Patel
4. Virat Kohli
5. Shimron Hetmyer (last option)

RCB will have to think through what their best opening combination will be. Last IPL season, they had proven players as their openers in Brendon Mccullum, Quinton de Kock, and Manan Vohra but still could not get the desired results. Come IPL 2019, all 3 of them were released/ traded by the Bangalore side.

In the IPL 2019 auctions, Bangalore bought the young Devdutt Padikkal and the South African Heinrich Klassen in the squad. Those two young cricketers being the opening combination of Royal Challengers Bangalore is a real possibility.

But, if Bangalore decides not to play Heinrich Klassen, a slot for an Indian wicketkeeper opens up and Parthiv Patel will be preferred ahead of Akshdeep Nath as an opener. There is also the possibility for the skipper Virat Kohli coming forward to open the innings if nothing else works out for them or even Shimron Hetmeyer.

Bangalore surely has enough options for their opening combination and it is up to them to find the best one that suits their gameplan.

Overall Verdict - Opening Combination of Devdutt/Parthiv – Heinrich Klassen /Virat Kohli can be deadly on paper but has to be proven on the pitches. Bangalore needs to find their best opening combination through trial and error and if they can find it fast enough, the results will come their way.

Rating: 3/5