Bangalore: Left to lick their wounds after losing their last three matches in a row, Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to return to winning ways when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in their first home match in IPL 7 here on Sunday.
Virat Kohli and his colleagues will have to quickly forget their less-than-impressive display in the United Arab Emirates and gear up to take full advantage of home conditions at the Chinnaswamy Stadium as they play their first match of the India leg.
Both RCB and Hyderabad have garnered four points each, but the home side are placed above in the points-table because of a better run-rate.
RCB started off really well in the tournament by winning their first two matches even in the absence of the explosive West Indian Chris Gayle, but things went awry for them since then.
A lot of team's success, as has been the case all these six years, will revolve around Gayle, Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and AB de Villiers. In the five games RCB have played so far, they have not fired as expected.
Captain Kohli will be hoping that a return to familiar territory will be just the boost his team needs. Yuvraj has been getting decent knocks but he is not getting his rhythm right. De Villiers also have been miserable except for the 45-run knock against Mumbai Indians.
The opening stand have been disappointing for RCB which has resulted to their scoring the third lowest total ever in IPL history -- bowled out for a meagre 70 in 15 overs against Rajasthan Royals. RCB were also restricted to 124 for eight in their last match against Kings XI Punjab.
Gayle, who missed the team's first four games with a hamstring injury, showed his glimpse of batting prowess when he pummelled Kings XI Punjab from the word go, picking 20 runs in the first over of Glenn Maxwell.
However, the swashbuckling Jamaican fell in the next over, but not before making a statement of his arrival, which could prove a nightmare for any side's bowlers.