Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 23 : Royal Challengers Bengaluru stand-in captain Jitesh Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Lucknow on Friday in the 18th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
RCB will look to leapfrog Gujarat Titans, move to the top of the table, and bolster its hopes of ending up in the top two of the group standings. Sunrisers Hyderabad, on the other hand, who are already out of the playoffs, will look to finish the season on a high. They already knocked Lucknow Super Giants from the race for a top-four finish earlier this week and could dent Bengaluru's chances of gaining momentum before next week's playoffs.
With designated captain Rajat Patidar still unfit, Jitesh was handed the responsibility of leading Bengaluru. Karnataka's Mayank Agarwal came in place of Devdutt Padikkal, who has been ruled out of the tournament due to an injury.
After winning the toss, Royal Challengers Bengaluru stand-in captain Jitesh Sharma confirmed Patidar would come in as an impact substitute and said, "It's my first time captaining RCB. I captained PBKS against SRH last year. We are thinking of bowling first, and want to take most of the surface moisture. We are looking forward to finishing the league at top of the table and entering the playoffs. The management has taken care of the players. We have a good atmosphere and culture. We want to win every game and win the cup. Rajat Patidar is the impact player. Mayank comes in for Padikkal."
Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins said during the time of the toss, "We have shown some good signs in the last few games. We are building our team for the next season. We need to play more consistently. We need to be at our best. Last game, we chased down 200 comfortably. I have been bowling with Shami and preparing for the upcoming Test cricket. We would have bowled, not sure how it will play. We have three changes. Travis Head is back, Abhinav Manohar and Unadkat are back as well."
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarawal, Jitesh Sharma(w/c), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Lungi Ngidi, Suyash Sharma
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Impact Subs: Rajat Patidar, Rasikh Dar, Salam Manoj Bhandage, Swapnil Singh
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan(w), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins(c), Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga
Sunrisers Hyderabad Impact Subs: Mohammad Shami, Harsh Dubey, Sachin Baby, Zeeshan Ansari, Simarjeet Singh.