<p>As the country grapples with the second wave of the coronavirus, its favourite distraction — the Indian Premier League — kicks off in Chennai with Royal Challengers Bangalore taking on defending champions Mumbai Indians on Friday.</p>.<p>Royal Challengers, one of the three teams yet to lay their hands on the trophy, stare at a mighty task in their opening bout itself. Not only do they have a poor head-to-head record against Mumbai (10 wins against 17 defeats), they also have not won a game at the iconic MA Chidambaram Stadium in a decade. Since 2011, they’ve lost five games on the bounce against home team Chennai Super Kings.</p>.<p><strong>Read:<a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/cricket/ipl/ipl-14-formidable-mi-aim-for-hat-trick-kohli-aims-to-break-rcb-deadlock-behind-closed-doors-971865.html" target="_blank"> IPL 14: Formidable MI aim for hat-trick, Kohli aims to break RCB deadlock behind 'closed doors'</a></strong></p>.<p>Much of RCB’s hopes of overturning these records will hinge of the batting trio of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Devdutt Padikkal. All three batsmen tallied over 450 runs each last season with young star Padikkal shining the brightest.</p>.<p>The Bengaluru opener, who joined the squad on Wednesday after returning Covid negative, arrives this season on the back of a blazing run, having smashed four consecutive centuries in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy. </p>.<p>Kohli and de Villiers are living legends and rarely do they not deliver. If the trio gets cracking, Mumbai will have their hands full. Mumbai, however, start favourites, not just for the game but to secure a sixth title under an ice-cool Rohit Sharma.</p>
<p>As the country grapples with the second wave of the coronavirus, its favourite distraction — the Indian Premier League — kicks off in Chennai with Royal Challengers Bangalore taking on defending champions Mumbai Indians on Friday.</p>.<p>Royal Challengers, one of the three teams yet to lay their hands on the trophy, stare at a mighty task in their opening bout itself. Not only do they have a poor head-to-head record against Mumbai (10 wins against 17 defeats), they also have not won a game at the iconic MA Chidambaram Stadium in a decade. Since 2011, they’ve lost five games on the bounce against home team Chennai Super Kings.</p>.<p><strong>Read:<a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/cricket/ipl/ipl-14-formidable-mi-aim-for-hat-trick-kohli-aims-to-break-rcb-deadlock-behind-closed-doors-971865.html" target="_blank"> IPL 14: Formidable MI aim for hat-trick, Kohli aims to break RCB deadlock behind 'closed doors'</a></strong></p>.<p>Much of RCB’s hopes of overturning these records will hinge of the batting trio of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Devdutt Padikkal. All three batsmen tallied over 450 runs each last season with young star Padikkal shining the brightest.</p>.<p>The Bengaluru opener, who joined the squad on Wednesday after returning Covid negative, arrives this season on the back of a blazing run, having smashed four consecutive centuries in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy. </p>.<p>Kohli and de Villiers are living legends and rarely do they not deliver. If the trio gets cracking, Mumbai will have their hands full. Mumbai, however, start favourites, not just for the game but to secure a sixth title under an ice-cool Rohit Sharma.</p>