IPL 6 - RR vs KXIP: Rajasthan Royals preview

DATE: 14^th April, 2013

TIME: 8:00 PM (IST)

VENUE: Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur

Rajasthan Royals players celebrate after picking up a wicket

Rajasthan Royals’ skipper Rahul Dravid, so far, has been enterprising and has shown great acumen with the way he has gone about selecting the playing XI for every match. What let RR down in their last outing against an under-par Pune Warriors side was that no one was able to build up and accelerate on the platform set up by Dravid and Ajinkya Rahane; moreover, in the second innings, wayward bowling gave PWI a chance to end their long losing streak of eleven consecutive losses. At hand now is a home game and RR will take on Kings XI Punjab.

In a one-to-one comparison of players from both the teams, Dravid’s outfit is better placed with more T20 specialists. Moreover, RR has the home advantage. The way they exploited the conditions against stronger KKR makes them the favourites against Punjab, who do not have much experience in the batting order. The experienced Gilchrist is woefully out of touch and that leaves only Hussey as far as experience is concerned. To make the things difficult for the Punjab team is the fact that it relies heavily on the local boys, who will now have quite a task at hand that will test their mettle. Given the same green-top deck and no injuries in the Royals’ camp, the same eleven that took to the field against KKR will step out hoping to bounce back to winning ways. Stats also favour Dravid’s outfit over Gilchrist’s. Last season, RR comprehensively beat the team from Punjab both in Jaipur as well as in Mohali.

Rajasthan Royals does not depend on one or two players to lead the team to victory. It has almost always been the team effort that has taken them past the line. If Dravid lays the foundation, Hodge scores quick runs at during the end of the innings; if Siddartha Trivedi provides initial breakthroughs, Kevon Cooper bowls the opponent out at the death for a victory. The prominent role played by the bowlers in defending the total was missing in the last game. Sreesanth and company need to pull up their socks to avoid repeating what happened to RR in the last IPL. In IPL 5, the team made a mess of a good beginning; and as the tournament progressed, their performances kept going downhill and they slipped into anonymity.

Players to watch

Rahul Dravid has truly led RR from the front

Rahul Dravid: He is the man in form for Rajasthan Royals. Not only has he performed with that bat, but has also led from the front, his leadership being one of RR’s main strengths. In the three games the RR has played so far, Dravid has an average of 45.33; and his knock in the coming game will once again have a bearing on his team’s performance.

Shane Watson: He is a match-winner. A true T20 player who can make it big for his team on any day, he needs to get back to his attacking best soon, for RR has not had the blitzkrieg start that anyone would expect when a player of Watson’s class is one of the openers. However, his form has been a concern lately.

Kevon Cooper: Since he has joined RR in IPL 5, this medium pacer has hardly disappointed his skipper. Chipping in with wickets at crucial times, his consistent performances have evoked so much trust in Dravid that he has now become one of the slog over bowlers for RR. Having an economy of 5.91 in three matches so far, he is already in the race for the Purple Cap.