"Looks like a better balance with Holder in place of Zampa" - Shaun Pollock on RR's playing XI against LSG in IPL 2023

Former South African all-rounder Shaun Pollock believes the Rajasthan Royals (RR) need to bring in all-rounder Jason Holder in place of wrist-spinner Adam Zampa for their upcoming encounter against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Jaipur on Wednesday, April 19.

RR played an extra spinner in Adam Zampa in their previous game against the Gujarat Titans (GT) and while they won chasing, Pollock feels Holder would give their team a much better balance.

Speaking to Cricbuzz ahead of the RR vs LSG game, here's what Shaun Pollock had to say about the hosts' playing XI and the value Jason Holder could add to it:

"It just looks like a better balance for me with Holder in place of Zampa. When you have just two pacers who have to take care of the front six overs and the back two it may get difficult for them. So with Holder they have that extra pacer and also some firepower in the batting. They just look better balanced so if Holder is fit, he gets preference."

Former Australian cricketer Lisa Sthalekar was also present on the panel and she weighed in on RR's impressive record at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. She said:

"A lot of their players have been firing all cylinders. But particularly Yashasvi Jaiswal who has been with them from a couple of years. They also have a great record at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium with a win percentage of 68%. Lucknow also haven't beaten Rajasthan yet and so things are nicely stacked up in the home side's advantage."

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Shaun Pollock on RR's home advantage

Shaun Pollock shed light on the morale-boosting win that the Rajasthan Royals had over GT and feels that would have given them a great understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. He reckons they will qualify for the playoffs much sooner than others if they are able to make the most of their home conditions.

On this, Shaun Pollock stated:

"They (RR) played against GT in their last game and ended up winning, so definitely they have a great understanding of where they are as a team. They have got the four wins, and now they need to make sure that they get their combinations right and use their local conditions well and making it difficult for the teams who visit there (Jaipur). Who knows, if they could get onto a run in these five games, they could even be qualified for the playoffs by the end of it."

Lucknow will need to play really well to break their jinx against the Royals on Wednesday.