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After a loss against RCB at the Chinnaswamy Stadium earlier in the IPL, it’s now Rajasthan Royals‘ turn to host RCB in their own backyard at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. An interesting encounter awaits us, especially considering the contrasting natures of the captains of both the sides. On one hand we have Rajasthan skipper Rahul Dravid, probably the coolest and calmest captain around; and on the other hand, we have RCB skipper Virat Kohli, perhaps the hottest head in world cricket at the moment. Not to forget, Kohli is coming from the infamous booing incident at Wankhede Stadium, where the crowd called him a ‘cheat’. His on-field bust-up with Gautam Gambhir, a strange reaction to the Chennai crowd, and many more incidents are regularly making headlines. However, we have to wait and watch who comes out on top today – the cool-headed or the hot-headed.
Rajasthan Royals are fresh from a thumping victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad by 8 wickets in their last game played at Jaipur. Shane Watson will be the key to their batting today, considering his 98* in the last game. He also hit a quickfire century earlier against Chennai. Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Dravid have been in good nick so far and have often given RR the good starts they need. Brad Hodge will have to take up the responsibility of scoring quick runs at the end. James Faulkner, Kevin Cooper and Siddharth Trivedi will look after the pace department for them with Ajit Chandila supporting them with his clever spin bowling. They all have been in some good form this season and are quite capable of countering the impending Gaylestorm. The double Rs are presently in the 3rd place, with 5 wins so far.
RCB are presently sitting pretty in the second position with their six home wins so far. But their failure to win a single game away from home could prove to be the nail in their coffin once again. Their batsmen, including the likes of Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers, have been in the form of their lives. However, the failure of the rest of the batting line-up to contribute significantly might hurt them in the future games. Their bowlers have been doing a reasonably good job this year. Ravi Rampaul and Vinay Kumar have been their strike bowlers in most of the games. Jaydev Unadkat and RP Singh have proved expensive at times, but are expected to play second fiddle to their lead bowlers. They might opt for Muttiah Muralitharan today as the Jaipur pitch has been assisting spinners so far.
Conditions:
Considering the low scores in the previous games, the pitch has been playing slow here. It might assist the spinners and pacers with clever changes of pace. The team winning the toss should probably look to bowl first as the venue has been good for chasing so far. The reason is that the track settles down well later in the match.
Key players for RR:
Shane Watson- This dashing Australian right-hander has taken over the reins of Rajasthan’s batting since the time he arrived. With his knocks of 98* and 101 in the last two games, the batting powerhouse will be expected to be their mainstay today as well.
James Faulkner: The current Purple Cap holder has been the lead bowler for the Blues so far. His 5 scalps in the last game were elemental in his team’s convincing win. Apart from that, he has been chipping in with a wicket or two in almost every game.
Key players for RCB:
Chris Gayle- This Jamaican powerhouse will be hoping for another Gaylestorm today. He is presently the Orange Cap holder as well.
Virat Kohli- Apart from his on-field antics, the RCB skipper has been hitting the ball well so far. He is second-highest scorer for RCB after Gayle. He is expected to carry the momentum of the innings till the end if Gayle gets out early.
Possible XI:
RR- Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Dravid(c), Shane Watson, Brad Hodge, Dishant Yagnik(wk), Stuart Binny, Sachin Baby/ S Sreesanth, James Faulkner, Kevin Cooper, Ajit Chandila and Siddharth Trivedi.
RCB: Chris Gayle, T Dilshan/Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers, Sourabh Tiwary, Arun Karthik, Syed Mohammad, Ravi Rampaul, Vinay Kumar, RP Singh and Jaydev Unadkat/M Muralitharan.
