Challengers wary of smarting old hands

After their fielding drills at the National Cricket Academy, the Pune Warriors' batsmen made their way to the Chinnaswamy Stadium. While Sourav Ganguly headed to the nets, Robin Uthappa preferred to have a chat with the groundsmen.

After their fielding drills at the National Cricket Academy, the Pune Warriors' batsmen made their way to the Chinnaswamy Stadium. While Sourav Ganguly headed to the nets, Robin Uthappa preferred to have a chat with the groundsmen. Jesse Ryder and Manish Pandey too preferred to mingle with the ground staff. Come Tuesday, the three former RCB players will be out to prove a point against their former team.

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During his three-year stint with RCB, Ryder was more in the news for his sessions at the hotel bar than his knocks. No wonder, the Kiwi, who played a match-winning knock against Chennai on Saturday, will be desperate to perform against the team which didn't show an interest in him during the full auction ahead of IPL IV.

Though RCB opted for Uthappa before releasing him to Pune in the 2011 auction, the player has had a rocky relationship with his state association. He would be keen to make a point with the bat.

During the teams' reshuffle ahead of the fourth edition, RCB had filed an official complaint against Pandey for reverse bargaining. Though he was allowed to play for Pune, Pandey was banned for the first four matches of IPL IV.