Rajasthan Royals are yet to find the right combination of players in their playing XI. After registering back-to-back remarkable wins in Sharjah, their batting line-up has failed to live up to the expectations in the last two matches. Their middle-order is inexperienced which had cost them dearly.
As they move on to play their fifth match against Mumbai Indians on Tuesday (October 4), Rajasthan Royals will have to come with a good playing XI to beat the defending champions. On that note, let’s take a look at how Rajasthan Royals playing XI can shape.
Rajasthan Royals Predicted XI against MI:
1. Yashasvi Jaiswal:
Yashasvi, who is playing the first IPL season, was dropped from the XI after just playing the first match against CSK. He will regain the place in the playing XI as Steve Smith, who has been playing as the opener is needed in the middle-order to balance the team. Rajasthan Royals will expect from youngster to live up to their expectations against the likes of world-class bowlers in MI.
2. Jos Buttler (wk):
Jos Buttler is in form but has not failed to give a good start to the team. In the last match against RCB, he started hitting the bowlers from the very first over but stayed short in the crease. Rajasthan Royals will want him to support the youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal while also build a match-winning partnership to beat the defending champion.
3. Sanju Samson:
In the first two matches of Sharjah’s short boundary, Sanju Samson found it easy to hit sixes and earned Man of the Match back to back to guide his team to victory. The wicketkeeper-batsman, however, could not score runs in the big boundary of Dubai and Abu Dhabi against KKR and RCB respectively. Albeit he is a core of Rajasthan Royal’s batting order. The right-handed batsman will want to get it right against the MI while batting at no. 3.
4. Steve Smith (c):
Steven Smith is likely to demote himself to number four position in the playing XI after Robin Uthappa has failed to score runs in the middle. He would try to stabilize the innings which was lacking in their last match. Overall, batting as the opener, Smith has so far scored 127 runs at the strike rate of 150.61.
5. Mahipal Lomror:
The young attacking batsman impressed with his skills in the last match against RCB. After the early fall of top-order and middle-order batsmen, Lomror started the reprocess to build innings. He stitched a partnership with Uthappa and Parag before losing his wicket, scoring 47 runs. Seeing his performance, he will be given the place as Uthappa might be benched.
6. Rahul Tewatia:
Rahul Tewatia is a new found talent of the IPL 2020. He came into prominence with his performance against Kings XI Punjab. The bowling allrounder had hit five sixes off Sheldon Cottrell’s six balls to score his first fifty of the IPL and lead them to the win. Tewaita’s power-hitting has given depth to Rajasthan Royal’s batting line up.
7. Tom Curran:
Tom Curran has given valuable contribution with both bat and ball. He has picked one wicket in each in the last four matches while also showed his batting skill against KKR. The fast bowling allrounder remained unbeaten and scored 54 runs to decrease the margin of defeat. With powerful batting down the order, he is an asset to the team.
8. Jofra Archer:
Jofra Archer is the vital cog for the team not only with the ball but also with the bat. His ability to hit long sixes and boundaries in last death overs plays a crucial role in putting a good score on the board.
9. Shreyas Gopal
Shreyas Gopal, the Rajasthan Royals leg spinner, has not got the expected start of the tournament. He has only picked two wickets in the last four matches while also being expensive. He will have to pick the right line and length early against RCB to get things on track.
10. Ankit Rajpoot:
Ankit Rajpoot has impressed with his performance. He has scalped the vital wickets of KL Rahul and Andre Russell to change the momentum of the game for RR. The pacer was dropped from the XI in the last match but regain his spot against MI.
11. Jaydev Unadkat:
Jaydev Unadkat has been given a place in the XI even though he has not produced the desired results. In the first two matches, he went wicketless while CSK batsman Faf du Plessis has badly beaten the pacer. But he got his wicket of IPL 2020 in the form of Sunil Narine. The Rajasthan Royals bowler will be looking to unleash more attacking performance against MI.