IPL 2020, SRH v RCB: 3 players who flopped | 22nd September

The third game of the IPL brought together two very contrasting and often imbalanced IPL teams - the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

While RCB typically struggle with their bowling unit's composition, in particular death bowling, the Sunrisers have often had a relatively inexperienced middle order. It was fitting, then, that this was a close contest.

Several young stars made their IPL debuts in this game. Devdutt Padikkal, a young opener who has lit up the domestic scene, sparkled with a half-century while opening the innings for RCB. Josh Philippe hardly got time at the crease, but was afforded an opportunity despite having never represented Australia.

As for the Sunrisers, the young Priyam Garg, a member of the Indian 2020 Under-19 World Cup squad, got his chance under the lights. However, he was unable to make the most of his opportunities, and was part of a dramatic collapse by SRH against spin and pace alike.

In the third successive game to go into the final over this IPL, the Sunrisers eventually fell short to RCB by just ten runs, although the match appeared to be over once wickets began to tumble at the end.

Contrary to expectations, RCB were able to put up a complete performance with the ball and won their first opening game of an IPL season since 2016 - incidentally, the year they marched to the finals.

As for the Sunrisers, they have a lot to reflect upon - their team composition, their strategy during the chase, as well as the choice of the fourth foreign player in the team.

Here, we look at three players across both teams that performed below expectations in the SRH vs RCB IPL 2020 game.

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#3 Vijay Shankar

Vijay Shankar has a crucial role for SRH in this year's IPL

Emerging as the pick at number 4 in the Indian ODI batting line-up after some convincing performances, Vijay Shankar's stock rose to a high in 2019. As a result, SRH could have reasonably expected the all-rounder to be an important part of their line-up, and contribute with both bat and ball.

However, Shankar did not live up to expectations in the first game of IPL 2020. While filling in for the injured Mitchell Marsh, Shankar started woefully, overstepping twice in a row and bowling a wide in the two deliveries that he had to complete. He bowled one more over, taking an impatient Padikkal's wicket, but finished with 14 runs conceded off 8 balls.

With bat in hand, he was a part of the action for a total of one ball, as he fell victim to a ripping googly from Yuzvendra Chahal that went through to hit the stumps. The quick dismissal meant SRH had no significant resistance from their key middle-order batsman.

Check the IPL 2020 orange cap list here.

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#2 Virat Kohli

While RCB's first IPL 2020 game went to plan, Kohli's innings did not.

Giving the young Padikkal an opportunity at the top was meant to free pressure on skipper Virat Kohli to play his natural game. While the debutant did as was asked, Kohli struggled to up the ante during his innings, largely scoring by rotating the strike. In an attempt to break loose, Kohli went for a lofted shot against accurate seamer T Natarajan, only to find the waiting hands of Rashid Khan at long on. He departed for 14 off 13.

For Kohli, it was a game that went to plan in most other respects. Long-term batting ally AB de Villiers broke loose after weathering a quiet period to score a half-century. Apart from Padikkal's success, Chahal had a terrific outing with the ball, as did Navdeep Saini and Shivam Dube.

All in all, RCB were able to take all ten wickets while defending a just-above-par total. However, Kohli would look to anchor the innings more effectively in the next IPL 2020 game.

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#1 David Warner

David Warner missed out on a great opportunity in this IPL game.

In a chase that looked competitive but not overly threatening for a team with the opening pair that SRH has, the team stuttered before eventually falling short. Much of that was due to their captain and three-time IPL Orange Cap winner, David Warner, getting out in an unlucky manner early on in his innings.

Warner faced Dale Steyn in his opening over, and while he staved off the threat, he was also kept to just 6 runs off 6 balls. In the following over bowled by Umesh Yadav, however, Warner was outside his crease when Jonny Bairstow hit the ball towards the bowler. Ricocheting off the bowler's outstretched hand, the ball hit the stumps to find Warner short of his crease.

While his opening partner did make a fine 61, the lack of support from anyone apart from Manish Pandey - Priyam Garg's 12 was the third highest score for SRH - meant SRH fell short. Warner would look to lead his side with a better batting performance in the next IPL game, although it must be said that this wasn't his fault.