Super Sunday kicks off with two evenly poised sides locking horns against each other. Eventually, for a couple of points and more importantly, for carrying on momentum further into the tournament. Both Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals lost their opening match of the tournament. They came back to win their next fixture at home.
Having said that, let us take a look at the Predicted XI of Rajasthan Royals.
Ajinkya Rahane:
Captain and opening batsman for the Rajasthan Royals, Ajinkya Rahane, first and foremost needs to sort out the running between the wickets with his partner.
D’Arcy Short had to give his wicket away on two consecutive occasions due to a runout. Rahane got some sort of a start (45 off 40 balls) against Daredevils before giving his wicket away.
D’Arcy Short:
The phrase D’Arcy Short was Short of his crease did a lot of rounds on social media lately.
The explosive Australian will be determined to make a statement, by bringing in his Big Bash League form into the IPL, provided, he sorts out his calling with the skipper at the other end.
Sanju Samson:
Sanju Samson will annoy mentor Shane Warne the most as he gave away two promising starts which reduced Rajasthan Royals‘ final score by at least 30 runs.
Samson, yet again sparkled against his former franchise, with a 22-ball 37, following the 42-ball 49 against Sunrisers. This time around, the Royals would want the Keralite to put on a substantial score, especially looking at his form.
Ben Stokes:
Just when the multi-million dollar man from the auctions, Ben Stokes, was beginning to flex his muscles, his knock was curtailed by the trademark swing from Trent Boult.
Stokes was brilliant last year in his debut season and Rajasthan Royals might want the best all-rounder in the world to replicate his form for the Rising Pine Supergiants.
Rahul Tripathi:
With the fresh auctions, teams have gone in with fresh combinations, which provided new roles and responsibilities to a certain set of players.
If Ambati Rayudu was sent up the order of CSK, Rahul Tripathi now enjoys a role in the middle order. Tripathi was responsible to take Rajasthan to an above par score according to DLS method.
Jos Buttler:
The Sawai Man Singh for the first time experienced a Jos Buttler special as he smacked a priceless 18-ball 29, at a strike rate of 161m, with two boundaries and an equal number of opportunities.
Shreyas Gopal:
Shreyas Gopal turned out economical in the game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, apart from providing useful contribution down the order with the bat.
Gopal will be the local lad in the game at Bengaluru. As a result, it is expected that he will take maximum benefit out of the wicket at Chinnaswamy.
Krishnappa Gowtham:
Another product of the Karnataka factory of cricketers, Krishnappa Gowtham will be back where it all started for him at the KPL.
Although one has a feeling that despite going for a whopping sum of 6.2 crores, Rajasthan Royals have underused his services.
Dhawal Kulkarni:
For the ninth time in IPL, Dhawal Kulkarni was the pick of the bowler for his side in both the games against Delhi Daredevils and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Kulkarni is also an asset for his beloved franchise when it comes to batting as well.
Ben Laughlin:
At the end of the day, it was Adelaide Strikers’ Ben Laughlin, who helped his team cross the finishing line with his two-over spell against Delhi Daredevils. With the injury to Jofra Archer, Laughlin will be looking to seal his place in the XI with some indispensable bowling.
Jaydev Unadkat:
Jaydev Unadkat’s figures in the tournament have been exorbitant just like his price tag in the IPL auctions.
Since the beginning of the T20I series against South Africa, Unadkat has remained expensive in his spells, as opposed to the performances last season for RPS.
Picture Credits: IPLT20.com
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