Less pressure on our key batsmen now - Kohli

Virat Kohli believes that Royal Challengers Bangalore's three key batsmen - himself, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers - will be able to play more freely this season due to the franchise's improved batting depth, following the acquisition of players such as Dinesh Karthik and Darren Sammy.

"I think this season is pretty different for us because for the past three or maybe four years, myself, Chris and AB have played under a lot of pressure because the batting revolved around the three of us," Kohli said. "If you look at a few of the other teams they had a lot of depth in batting so guys could go in and play freely. But we had to be cautious and at the same time look to score runs.

"But this time we have got Dinesh Karthik, Darren Sammy. We have got youngsters like Mandeep Singh, and Badrinath as well. It is a very strong batting unit this time and we have got really good depth and some really good power hitters.

"I think myself, Chris and AB can play the way we always wanted to play in T20. Like you see AB playing the way he did in the World Cup, I am sure he will be feeling relieved that he can go out there and start playing like that from ball one. That is pretty exciting for us as a team."

Allan Donald, the Royal Challengers bowling coach, is impressed with fast bowler Varun Aaron's attitude and backs him to come good this IPL season. Although Aaron can hit speeds of 150 kph, he can be inaccurate and expensive. But Donald reasoned that extra pace was always a gamble worth taking.

"When you look at guys like that - first of all your Brett Lees, (Mitchell) Johnsons so these guys always go for few runs but it's their aggressive nature, their attacking nature that they bring to the game," he said, "They are always hunting for wickets so pace brings a bit of looseness but it also brings wickets. So you won't change that attitude. I've been in the same position before. May be narrow down the channels a little bit but not too much. We don't want to take away that aggressive nature from Varun."

Donald was similarly pleased with the depth in fast-bowling resources and hoped they can compensate for the initial absences of Mitchell Starc and Adam Milne.

"I heard last night that Starc has pulled out for three weeks. I think he will probably miss two to three games in this IPL and he will be coming over. Its a bit of big loss for us. Adam Milne is also struggling with a bruised heel, so he is very close to be back bowling again. But that's an opportunity for other guys to step up.

"The presence of Sean Abbott, David Wiese gives us great balance here. I followed especially Sandeep Warrier in the domestic competition. Ashok Dinda does what Ashok Dinda does. He always brings something new to the table."

Rahul Dravid, Rajasthan Royals' mentor, urged India players to prioritise domestic cricket if they wanted to succeed in IPL.

"My advice to young players is they also [should] take the Ranji Trophy very very seriously, because I think, without playing consistently successful domestic cricket, it is very very unlikely that you will be able to succeed coming to the IPL," he said.

"When we pick players, we look a lot at their Ranji Trophy performance as well. Of course there are specific T20 skills that we are looking for but we also want to see hunger, we also want to see consistency and we also want to see somebody who can deliver under pressure."

Royals had recruited Karun Nair last year on the back of three successive centuries in his debut season of first-class cricket. This year, Delhi Daredevils snapped up Shreyas Iyer, who made 809 runs at 50.56 in the Ranji Trophy. Siddesh Lad, 562 runs at 43.23, went to Mumbai Indians. Sheldon Jackson racked up 819 runs at 68.25 and found a place in Kolkata Knight Riders' squad.

Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer Ishant Sharma felt T20 was easier than ODIs for fast bowlers with the four-fielder rule absent in the shortest format.

"T20 is still easy for a fast bowler than ODIs," Ishant told PTI in an interview. "At least in T20 cricket, there is an extra fielder outside the circle to give you protection unlike in ODI cricket which has the four-fielder rule in progress. So at least in T20 cricket, we can do the containing act with the added fielder.

"Yes, the four-fielder rule is a problem, you ask any bowler. But there [are] certain things which are beyond your control. So, one has to abide by the rules that are being implemented by the international body and respect them. So, it's important to rise above the challenges and do the most within the rules."