A new captain but familiar challenges await Royal Challengers Bengaluru

What's new with Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the new cycle?

A new captain for starters. Rajat Patidar will have big shoes to fill when he starts doing a role that is bound to come under immense scrutiny. Captaining a franchise that has one of the more difficult home grounds will be the biggest challenge on his agenda.

The batting too has some new faces with a distinct English flavour

Phil Salt, Liam Livingstone and Jacob Bethell come in with good T20 credentials, but at least two of them would have big roles to play in the template that RCB have operated with previously. Salt upfront offers a firepower foil to Virat Kohli, and it remains to be seen if he can forge a successful partnership like his predecessor Faf du Plessis managed.

The best XI as things stand

Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal

Injury/Availability Concerns

Josh Hazlewood is returning after a long period in the sidelines and his fitness could play a key factor in how the bowling line-up is fashioned.

The player with a point to prove is…

Devdutt Padikkal, once considered to be the next big thing from Karnataka's batting factory, has been off-colour in batting positions that haven't allowed him to exploit the field restrictions in the powerplay. Now with a good chance of finding a spot in the top-order, Padikkal could have a shot at redeeming some of that lost glory.

A player who could have a breakout season?

Liam Livingstone, who had managed to create an impact with Delhi Capitals when he got the chances last season, could have a breakout season at RCB, in an unforgiving ground, even a small impact could go a long way to help him stand out in his early years.