Royal Challengers Bangalore will take on Lucknow Supergiants in Lucknow today, Phil Salter Still recovering from injury. Former India captain Kris Srikkanth feels Devdutt Padikkal should open with him Virat Kohli and Jacob BethelThe batsman, who has been opening in Salter’s absence, should bat in the middle order.Bethell’s role this season has become a major talking point in the cricket world. Despite being on the bench for the first six matches of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Besser finally got his chance after Salter got injured. However, in the three games so far, he has scored only 39 runs with a strike rate of 150.Srikkanth feels RCB lacks an explosive presence at the top of the order.
- “Salt brought a devastating factor. Other teams, like Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head or players like Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh, brought a devastating factor that RCB lacked. Salt brought an attacking structure to them. You need a swashbuckling man at the top and that’s what was missing,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel ‘Cheeky Cheeka’.
He also suggested that Devdutt Padikkal should open the batting with Virat Kohli while Bethell is moved to the middle order.
- “Maybe Padikkal should open up the slot for them against LSG and Besser can come in the middle order. RCB’s middle order has also succumbed to quality bowling. The fourth to seventh positions have collapsed many times after Padikkal,” he added.
Devdutt Padikkal has revolutionized his T20 game this year, shaking off his previous reputation as a slow opener to become one of the most aggressive top-order batsmen in the league. He has been a consistent force for RCB at number three, providing explosive starts that have defined their batting strategy this season. He has featured in every one of the 9 matches played by RCB so far and has scored 282 runs with a strike rate of 188. His success in the IPL follows a prolific Karnataka domestic season in 2025-26, in which he was the highest run-scorer in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (725 runs at 90.62) and captained Karnataka to the Ranji Trophy final.Srikkanth further said that RCB’s balanced lineup should help them secure a playoff spot in IPL 2026.
- “They have the best balance among all teams in terms of bowling and batting. This means they can perform well on any kind of wickets. RCB will definitely qualify for the playoffs, but whether they can finish in the top two is still a question,” he said.
The previous opener also highlighted Kohli’s importance ahead of the crucial clash in Lucknow.
- “Virat Kohli is the key man for RCB in this match. He is used to batting on wickets like Lucknow. He has to play long innings, at least till the 15th over. This is a crucial match for LSG, their bowling is good but the batting is still an issue,” Srikkanth said.
