After winning their first two matches in Sharjah, Rajasthan Royals (RR) has been unable to win a match, losing four matches out of six. They are scheduled to play their seventh match of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Sunday (October 11) in Dubai.
To register a victory against SRH, Rajasthan Royals first need to address their batting set up. In their last match against Delhi Capitals, even though the target was below par, RR struggled to chase down it. Their three strong players Steve Smith, Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler lost their wickets early while the middle-order could not build innings.
But Rajasthan Royals’ main player, Ben Stokes, is set to return to the team after completing quarantine. His inclusion in the playing XI will make both the batting and bowling department a lot more stronger.
On that note, here we have discussed how Rajasthan Royals playing XI will shape in against SRH after Ben Stokes has returned.
Rajasthan Royal predicted XI against SunRisers Hyderabad:
1. Jos Buttler (wk):
Jos Buttler is the only batsman in Rajasthan Royals who has been seen in great touch with the bat. The team heavily depends on him for giving them a good start. If SRH gets successful in getting rid of him early, RR will be in great trouble.
2. Yashasvi Jaiswal:
The Under-19 World Cup 2020 leading scorer for India, Yashasvi Jaiswal, has not got a good start of the tournament. In the last match against Delhi Capitals, he had the opportunity to show his mettle, but he could not capitalise it. He scored 34 off 36 balls while he struggled to face the best bowlers of DC. He will be back for another two to three games, but Rajasthan Royals will want him to give a good start to the team.
3. Steven Smith:
The main problem of Rajasthan Royals is that their captain Steve Smith is also struggling to score runs. Since after the first two matches, he has not got things right losing his wicket early and cheaply. To beat SRH, Smith needs to bounce back stronger.
4. Sanju Samson:
Just like the captain, Sanju Samson has not got runs with the bat after having a thumping the start of the IPL 2020. was on fire in the first two games in Sharjah. He scored 74 off 32 with one four and nine sixes against the Chennai Super Kings in the first match and followed it up with 85 runs off 42 balls with four boundaries and seven sixers against Kings XI Punjab. Samson, however, in the next four matches has only scored 12 runs. He will have to play a big knock against SRH to register the victory.
5. Ben Stokes:
Ben Stokes is expected to be back in the attack as Steve Smith had stated that he would be available to play after Saturday. His inclusion will give the top-order to play more freely because they Stokes to relay on in middle-order. Apart from batting, he is a good option for bowling for captain Smith.
6. Mahipal Lomror:
Mahipal Lomror. Photo Credit: IPL/BCCI.
The 20-year-old made his debut for Rajasthan Royals in their match against RCB and scored 47 off 39 balls and helped them recover for the early losses in the match. In their match against KKR, he scored 11 off 13. Lomror looks promising in the middle order and is likely to play for them against SRH.
7. Jofra Archer:
The England speedster has been RR’s most consistent player in IPL 2020 not only with the ball but also with the bat. He has eight wickets to his name, bowling with a decent economy of 6.91, and has scored 88 runs in six matches for the Royals at a mammoth strike rate of 220.00.
8. Rahul Tewatia:
Rahul Tewatia is the best find for Rajasthan Royals. He has helped the team to accelerate the innings with his power-hitting while also with the ball. He has been the most economical bowler for them. Against Delhi Capitals, he bowled tight spells in restricting them to below 200. He will surely be in the playing XI.
9. Shreyas Gopal:
Photo by: Faheem Hussain /SPORTZPICS for BCC
Gopal bagged two wickets against MI and only gave away 28 runs. He is an important piece of the Rajasthan bowling attack and will retain his place for their match against SRH in Dubai.
10. Kartik Tyagi:
Kartik Tyagi made his debut against Mumbai Indians after Jaydev Unadkat was benched. The youngster got the IPL debut wicket of Quinton de Kock. Against Delhi Capitals, he picked the crucial wicket of Shimron Hetmyer to save runs for Rajasthan Royals. He is going to play many more matches for RR this season.
11. Varun Aaron:
After Ankit Rajpoot had proved to be expensive, Varun Aaron will be given a place in the playing XI. He played in the last match and bowled only two overs while went wicketless. Rajasthan Royals will hope from the youngster to pick wickets against SRH.