Royal Challengers Bangalore
Based: Dubai
Last season: Eighth
Best finish: Runners up in 2009, 2011 and 2016
Coach: Simon Katich
Captain: Virat Kohli. The highest run-scorer in IPL history. The player of the series four years ago. And yet a winner’s medal still eludes him. They have reached the final on his watch, in 2016, but since then the underachievement has been stark: they have finished last twice, and third last on the other occasion.
Key man: Moeen Ali
There have been signs in the late UK summer that Moeen has relocated his mojo, at least with the bat, having looked increasingly careworn in recent times. His batting strike-rate is among the best in the game in T20. Performances against Pakistan and Australia have shown his value in the death overs.
Big miss: Kane Richardson
RCB have identified death-bowling as being their Achilles heel. It was why they brought in Chris Morris, Isuru Udana and Richardson for this campaign.
Richardson subsequently opted out, though, as he was concerned Covid-19 travel restrictions might cause him to miss the birth of his first child.
Verdict
How RCB have never won the IPL despite the list of all-time greats – Kohli, de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Dale Steyn – who have passed through their doors remains a mystery.
Now they have employed Kiwi super brain Mike Hesson to try to solve it. He is the director of cricket operations for the franchise, with Simon Katich as the team’s head coach.
Their batting remains strong, and they have added some bowling firepower in the form of Morris.
Udana, an unheralded Sri Lankan left-armer who was picked up for his base price at auction, might also be a canny bit of business in a historical problem area for RCB.
Fixtures
1. Match 3, Monday, September 21, 6pm, Dubai - Sunrisers Hyderabad v Royal Challengers Bangalore
2. Match 6, Thursday, September 24, 6pm, Dubai – Kings XI Punjab v Royal Challengers Bangalore
3. Match 10, Monday, September 28, 6pm, Dubai – Royal Challengers Bangalore v Mumbai Indians
4. Match 15, Saturday, October 3, 2pm, Abu Dhabi – Royal Challengers Bangalore v Rajasthan Royals
5. Match 19, Monday, October 5, 6pm, Dubai – Royal Challengers Bangalore v Delhi Capitals
6. Match 25, Saturday, October 10, 6pm, Dubai – Chennai Super Kings v Royal Challengers Bangalore
7. Match 28, Monday, October 12, 6pm, Sharjah – Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kolkata Knight Riders
8. Match 31, Thursday, October 15, 6pm, Sharjah – Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kings XI Punjab
9. Match 33, Saturday, October 17, 2pm, Dubai – Rajasthan Royals v Royal Challengers Bangalore
10. Match 39, Wednesday, October 21, 6pm, Abu Dhabi – Kolkata Knight Riders v Royal Challengers Bangalore
11. Match 44, Sunday, October 25, 2pm, Dubai – Royal Challengers Bangalore v Chennai Super Kings
12. Match 48, Wednesday, October 28, 6pm, Abu Dhabi – Mumbai Indians v Royal Challengers Bangalore
13. Match 52, Saturday, October 31, 6pm, Sharjah – Royal Challengers Bangalore v Sunrisers Hyderabad
14. Match 55, Monday, November 2, 6pm, Abu Dhabi – Delhi Capitals v Royal Challengers Bangalore
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Indoor Cricket World Cup Dubai 2017
Venue Insportz, Dubai; Admission Free
Day 1 fixtures (Saturday)
Men 1.45pm, Malaysia v Australia (Court 1); Singapore v India (Court 2); UAE v New Zealand (Court 3); South Africa v Sri Lanka (Court 4)
Women Noon, New Zealand v South Africa (Court 3); England v UAE (Court 4); 5.15pm, Australia v UAE (Court 3); England v New Zealand (Court 4)
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Her most famous song
Aghadan Alqak (Would I Ever Find You Again)?
Would I ever find you again
You, the heaven of my love, my yearning and madness;
You, the kiss to my soul, my cheer and
sadness?
Would your lights ever break the night of my eyes again?
Would I ever find you again?
This world is volume and you're the notion,
This world is night and you're the lifetime,
This world is eyes and you're the vision,
This world is sky and you're the moon time,
Have mercy on the heart that belongs to you.
Lyrics: Al Hadi Adam; Composer: Mohammed Abdel Wahab
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
Joe Root's Test record
Tests: 53; Innings: 98; Not outs: 11; Runs: 4,594; Best score: 254; Average: 52.80; 100s: 11; 50s: 27
Day 5, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance
Moment of the day When Dilruwan Perera dismissed Yasir Shah to end Pakistan’s limp resistance, the Sri Lankans charged around the field with the fevered delirium of a side not used to winning. Trouble was, they had not. The delivery was deemed a no ball. Sri Lanka had a nervy wait, but it was merely a stay of execution for the beleaguered hosts.
Stat of the day – 5 Pakistan have lost all 10 wickets on the fifth day of a Test five times since the start of 2016. It is an alarming departure for a side who had apparently erased regular collapses from their resume. “The only thing I can say, it’s not a mitigating excuse at all, but that’s a young batting line up, obviously trying to find their way,” said Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s coach.
The verdict Test matches in the UAE are known for speeding up on the last two days, but this was extreme. The first two innings of this Test took 11 sessions to complete. The remaining two were done in less than four. The nature of Pakistan’s capitulation at the end showed just how difficult the transition is going to be in the post Misbah-ul-Haq era.
