IPL 2022, RR vs LSG: 3 player battles to watch out for

Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are a couple of sides that look downright formidable on paper in IPL 2022. Come Sunday (April 10), the two sides will face off at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Both sides are placed fourth and third in the points table respectively, and Rajasthan will be smarting after their loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), while LSG stole a win from Delhi in their last game.

The Royals enter the contest as favorites purely due to the experienced matchwinners they have in their playing XI, while Lucknow will look to skipper KL Rahul to give them those solid and swashbuckling starts.

On that note, we take a look at the three player battles to watch out for when both sides meet for the first time in IPL 2022.

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#1 LSG pace spearhead Avesh Khan vs Jos Buttler

Avesh Khan has been on a roll for LSG with seven wickets from four matches at an average of 18.14 and has proven to be effective at both ends of the game.

Facing that pace will be Rajasthan's in-form batter Jos Buttler, who followed up his ton against Mumbai with a half-century against Bangalore. The Englishman is the leading run-scorer in IPL 2022 at the moment with 203 runs from three matches.

Will it be Avesh's pace or Buttler's blunt hitting?

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#2 KL Rahul vs Trent Boult

This is a contest that KL Rahul has so far dominated, with the LSG skipper being dismissed by Trent Boult just once in nine encounters.

However, the Kiwi has picked up five wickets in the tournament so far and is the side's second-most economical bowler (7.16) after Yuzvendra Chahal (5.25).

Rahul has looked fluent so far in the tournament, getting his side off to starts, and he will be keen to get the better of the seamer once again when they meet at the Wankhede.

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#3 Quinton de Kock vs Yuzvendra Chahal

The leg-spinner has had the better of LSG opener Quinton de Kock five times in their seven T20 clashes and having him bowl an over in the powerplay might not be a bad ploy.

The South African has notched up two fifties in the edition so far, but he does face a stiff challenge with Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin bowling in tandem.

With both tweakers proving to be pretty miserly, de Kock might have to work hard for his runs.