Rajasthan Royals host Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League on Tuesday, with both teams in search of their first win of the ongoing edition of the T20 tournament.
Ajinkya Rahane-led Rajasthan and Virat Kohli-led Bangalore are in seventh and eighth position respectively on the points table. After suffering losses in their opening three games, the teams will look to turn the tide in Tuesday’s clash at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
Each team plays 14 league matches in the tournament, and eight or nine victories is what it typically takes to secure a playoff berth. This means that both RR and RCB can afford to lose just two or three out of their 11 remaining league games. A fourth straight loss for either team will most-likely mark the beginning of the end of their campaign.
Royals have failed to tighten the screws when it has mattered most. In all their three matches so far, they were in a good position but could not grab the key moments, losing to Kings XI Punjab, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings respectively.
In Chennai on Sunday, Royals had CSK reeling at 27 for three before skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni smashed an unbeaten 75 off 46 balls to bail the hosts out of trouble and eventually win the game by eight runs.
“We win as a team and we lose as a team. If we win the smaller moments in T20s we will do well. We have played well in the last three games and hopefully with some luck we’ll be able to turn it around,” said Royals skipper Rahane after the loss against CSK.
Royals, who boast of star players such as Australian Steve Smith and Englishman Ben Stokes, have failed to live up to the expectations.
In the first match against Kings XI Punjab, Royals’ bowlers allowed the visitors to get some vital runs in the death overs, and later the batsmen disappointed after being put on course to victory by Rahane and Jos Buttler.
The likes of Sanju Samson, who had hit the first ton of this IPL, Buttler and Rahane have been good. Rahul Tripathi also looked impressive during his 39 against CSK but Smith and Stokes are yet to set the tournament on fire.
A major cause for concern for the Royals is that their key oversees players like Buttler, Smith, Stokes and Jofra Archer will exit from the tournament at some stage to prepare with their respective national teams for the upcoming World Cup. The men in pink would want to make the most of these established cricketers and get as many wins under their belt till they are available.
RCB in search of ‘A-game’
The Royal Challengers, too, will be desperate to get off the mark in the tournament. Their captain Kohli had conceded that the defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday afternoon was “one of their worst losses”.
“We just need our players to put up a better challenge up front. There are still 11 games to go. The pitch will be nice in Jaipur against the Royals. We need to bring our A-game, like we did against Mumbai and play with that kind of intensity,” said Kohli after RCB’s third loss in a row.
The visitors certainly have the resources in their ranks to beat the Royals. RCB have a destructive batting order comprising Kohli, AB de Villiers, Parthiv Patel, Moeen Ali and Shimron Hetmyer, yet their batting has failed miserably in two out of the three games.
Both teams will also have to deal with the soaring heat in the the Pink City with temperatures nearing 40 degrees celsius.
Head to Head in IPL
Overall matches: 18
Won by Rajasthan Royals: 9
Won by Royal Challengers Bangalore: 8
No Result: 1
Trivia
Since the start of IPL 2017, Royal Challengers Bangalore have a 4-10 win-loss record when playing outside Bengaluru.
The team batting first has won 5 of the last 8 IPL matches played at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
The Rajasthan Royals captain Ajinkya Rahane has won all three tosses this season.
When he leads RCB onto the field in this match, Virat Kohli will become only the third player [after Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir] to be captain in 100 IPL matches.
Virat Kohli’s batting average against the Rajasthan Royals is 21.27 – his lowest against all IPL teams. He has scored only 2 half-centuries in 17 innings against RR.
Squads
Rajasthan Royals: Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Ashton Turner, Ish Sodhi, Oshane Thomas, Liam Livingstone, Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson, Shubham Ranjane, Stuart Binny, Shreyas Gopal, Sudhesan Midhun, Jaydev Unadkat, Prashant Chopra, Mahipal Lomror, Aryaman Birla, Riyan Parag, Dhawal Kulkarni, Krishnappa Gowtham, Varun Aaron, Shashank Singh, Manan Vohra, Rahul Tripathi.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Parthiv Patel, Moeen Ali, AB de Villiers, Shimron Hetmyer, Shivam Dube, Colin de Grandhomme, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Devdutt Padikkal, Himmat Singh, Milind Kumar, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Heinrich Klaasen, Pawan Negi, Washington Sundar, Akshdeep Nath, Prayas Barman, Kulwant Khejroliya, Tim Southee.
[Inputs from PTI and iplt20.com]
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