New Delhi, March 29 -- Longs rests in between India's ODI series after his retirement from Tests and T20Is, help Virat Kohli stay mentally fresh as the former skipper led Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) title defense with an unbeaten 38-ball 69 in a six-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the opening encounter of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Chasing Sunrisers Hyderabad's 201/9, RCB romped home in 15.4 overs with Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal (61) being the stars of the show. After the dismissal of Phil Salt in the second over of the chase, the Kohli and Padikkal pair forged 101 runs in 45 balls to take the game away. Although Sunrisers Hyderabad tried to bounce back with two wickets in...