'Virat Kohli will be captain and bat at No.3' - Hogg's cheeky response on being asked to pick RCB's playing XI

In the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League, which is slated to begin from September 19 across three venues namely Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, the Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore will be looking forward to turning their fortunes and getting their hands on the maiden IPL title.

Over the years, the Bangalore team had boasted of having some of the fiercest batsmen in their squad but the death bowling has always been the Achilles Heel for them.

RCB will start their campaign on 21st September against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Dubai International Cricket Stadium and will cap off their league stage with a match against Delhi Capitals on November 2 in Abu Dhabi. With the likes of AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli, Dale Steyn, Aaron Finch and Yuzvendra Chahal, RCB are expected to put up a dominant show and win most of their group stage fixtures to qualify for playoffs.

Former Australian all-rounder Brad Hogg is quite active on social media and has been making many assumptions relating to the performance of the teams in the lucrative T20 league. Recently, the cricketer had opined that Virat Kohli & Co. has a high chance of winning the tournament this year and end their long wait of 12 years.

Want to make sure the Aussie and English players are guaranteed of playing: Brad Hogg

On Tuesday (September 8), a cricket fan took to Twitter to ask Brad Hogg his opinion regarding the Banglore team playing XI in their first fixture of IPL 2020 against David Warner-led Sunrisers Hyderabad. The user tweeted, “What would be the playing XI for the opening match of RCB? Against SRH.”

To this, Hogg replied that he can give the potential playing XI only after there is some clarity regarding the availability of the England and Australian players in the starting days of the cash-rich league. Though, the former cricketer jokingly said that he is sure of one thing that Kohli will lead the team and will bat at number 3.

Hogg answered, “When it gets closer to the game I will give you my X1. Kohli will be captain and bat 3. Want to make sure the Aussie and English players are guaranteed of playing. #RCB”

Notably, several franchises’ overseas players are currently a part of the limited-overs series between England and Australia. The series will end on September 16 and the players can reach UAE by September 17 only. After that, they will have to serve a mandatory six-day quarantine period before joining their respective camps.

This means that they will be missing the initial matches of the tournament. However, it is reported that the franchises are looking at different ways through which the players will not have to serve the quarantine period and can directly join the teams.