Despite their immense potential with the likes of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, the Indian Premier League (IPL) title has always eluded the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

While at the beginning of the tournament every year it seems Kohli’s men are in a good position to break their title drought, RCB somehow manage to disappoint their fans.

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However, former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar believes that Kohli and De Villiers, RCB’s two main batsmen, should open together and that it will give the Banglore-based franchise a good chance of winning.

“Why a team like Royal Challengers Bangalore hasn’t won the title as yet is a puzzle. Any team that has Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers should never be short of runs and maybe that’s also a problem, for when these two failed, as humans sometimes do, then the others haven’t put their hands up. They have a new coach and will be hoping that this will be their year,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.

The first cricketer to 10,000 Test runs also suggested that due to the slow nature of wickets in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal can be the match-winner for RCB this season.

“On pitches that will get slower, it may be a good idea to have both the champion batsmen open the batting while the ball is hard and new and will come on to the bat nicely than when the spinners are operating. Leggie Yuzvendra Chahal could be a match-winner for RCB on those pitches,” Gavaskar said.

The 2020 season of the IPL will be played for 53 days from September 19 to November 10 across three venues in the UAE — Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Dubai.

The final match will be played on a Tuesday, to make it the first-ever IPL to have its final on a weekday. The matches this season will also start 30 minutes before their original time of 4 PM and 8 PM.

RCB will begin their campaign against their south-Indian rivals Sunrisers Hyderabad on September 21 at the Dubai International Stadium.

The IPL 2020, which was scheduled to be played from March 29 this year, was earlier postponed to April 15 before it was suspended again due to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.