Big-hitting Kolkata Knight Riders batsman Chris Lynn, on Monday, said Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore would be the team to beat in the upcoming 10th edition of the Indian Premier League, reported PTI.
The star-studded RCB side were losing finalists to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2016 edition, “It’s difficult to go past RCB with their strength in batting. The quality of players and the coaching staff, make them the side to beat,” the Australian said.
RCB have a formidable batting line-up, comprising of Kohli, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers. The South African maverick would be leading the team in the initial few matches owing to Kohli’s injury-induced absence.
The team also has fine finishers such as veteran Shane Watson, Kedar Jadhav and Stuart Binny, “Our plan will be to bowl as many dot balls as possible. It will be challenging but if we can reduce the amount of boundaries conceded then that will go a long in winning the game,” Lynn added.
On the absence of key Indian players like Kohli, he said: “There are 14 games in the season, they would be out only for a few games. That won’t have any impact as a whole”
“We will also miss Umesh [Yadav] for a couple of games so he will walk straight back into the side. He’s a vital part of the team. It will be fine,” the swashbuckling batsman said.
Yusuf Pathan to come out guns blazing
The Brisbane Heat captain slammed the fastest fifty in the Big Bash League in 2014-’15, taking only 18 balls to achieve the feat. He backed India all-rounder Yusuf Pathan to do something similar in the IPL
“Yusuf Pathan’s role is to hit the fastest fifty of the tournament. He’s going to come at number five or six and add power to the batting order by clearing the ropes, hitting as many sixes as possible. That’s what Pathan does the best,” Lynn said. “We also have a good pace bowling attack with Trent Boult, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Woakes and Umesh Yadav up front along with some quality spinners,” Lynn added.
The 25-year-old was named the Player of the Tournament in the 2016 Big Bash, scoring 378 runs at a jaw-dropping strike rate of 173.4
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