Different camps, different objectives

Rajasthan Royals have lost two out of the three games since resumption. They had no right to win the one they did. Just like they had no right to be in the playoff race still. Sounds harsh? But here is the explanation for the statement. We have already seen that even the defending champions can struggle if their core misfires. But what if the core is missing altogether?

Add to it the fragility of Chris Morris, on whose fitness to last the whole tournament there should be odds played. Missing proven match-winners, countering niggles, stumbling and picking themselves up, the Royals have found ways to win four games along the way. With four more in hand, they still have the fortunes in their hands. But what they do not have anymore is freedom for a blip.   

On the other side are Royal Challengers Bangalore. Give it to either those words by Virat Kohli right from the Shahrukh Khan manual of a pre-game speech or just the eyesight of Mumbai batsmen deteriorating as the ball slows down, but RCB managed to break the UAE voodoo just at the right time. In their typical mercurial fashion, like their losses, the victory was one-sided as well. Rajasthan have not beaten Bangalore since the start of last season. The last time the two sides met ended up being a 10-wicket thrashing for the Royals. 

While Bangalore are still two wins away from the safety net of 16 points, their objective against Rajasthan would be to continue the momentum which somehow matters more in this format versus the longer ones. Rajasthan, on the other hand, with eight points and a shoddy net run rate, will be fighting for survival. But, to make a game out of it, they have major issues to address in all three departments.

The one-man show in the Royals

Sanju Samson is the latest example of captaincy changing a batsman in a positive way. The 2021 season will go down as the first in which Samson broke the "fast climb and off the cliff" pattern he has followed over the years. The fact that he managed to sustain it after an interval in the season makes it even more impressive. In 10 innings this season, he has had six 40+ scores already, the most for him in any other year previously.

Samson has managed to attain consistency with the basics of innings building. Off the first 30 balls, he has opted for wicket preservation over his “natural game”. This might also be due to him feeling added responsibility with the absence of more polished Rajasthan batsmen. However, unlike a lot of other anchors, Samson has made up for a conservative start with a strike rate of 185.57 after facing 30 balls in this season.

The problem for Royals is the negligible support around him. In the game against Delhi, he scored 70 of the 115 runs scored off the bat. Against Hyderabad, he scored 82 of the 157. Overall in the last two games, he has scored 56% of the total team runs. 

There have been sporadic moments of brilliance from local youngsters, but the wait is on to identify someone capable enough to even warrant retention next year. Often, Bangalore receive criticism for being dependent on a few players. They will now be against a side that are lesser resourceful. Unless of course, Liam Livingstone chooses to make his presence felt.

“No Spin”

The dig at Shane Warne is by choice. The brand ambassador and mentor of Rajasthan preaches the role of spin even on pace bowling havens. He will find no delight in knowing that in this season, the spinners from Rajasthan are not just worse than all others but lack by a glaring margin on both fronts: controlling runs and taking wickets.

Rajasthan was opted to operate with part-time spinners throughout the season. The only spinner to feature in all games has been Rahul Tewatia. He has leaked runs at an economy of 9.2 in the season and has taken only four wickets. Not to mention averaging 13.9 with the bat.

Now, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers – the nucleus of RCB – are not that fond of facing spin. Just this season they have a strike rate of 103 and 120.8 against the tweakers respectively. Rajasthan hardly have any resources to tap into this opportunity. There is the option of recalling Shreyas Gopal who has done well against the duo in the past. But since he has been warming the bench for most of the season, the move will be a “let’s try something” at best.

Sloppy fielding making it worse

Rajasthan’s game against Punjab might not have gone down to the wire had Rajasthan held the three catches earlier. Against Hyderabad in their last game as well, Jason Roy’s drop resulted in dropped shoulders.

In this season, Rajasthan have had a catching efficiency better than only the struggling Mumbai. Since resumption, Rajasthan’s percentage has dropped further to 69.2%. 

A spectacular performance from someone on the day can nullify all the problem areas for Rajasthan. But, on paper, Bangalore will not find a better fixture to continue the winning run.

Probable XIs

Rajasthan Royals: Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Liam Livingstone, Mahipal Lomror, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia/Shreyas Gopal, Chris Morris, Chetan Sakariya, Kartik Tyagi/Jaydev Unadkat, Mustafizur Rahman

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Srikar Bharat (wk), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Dan Christian, Shahbaz Ahmed, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj