Battle of the Royals: Rajasthan aim for hat-trick of wins against scratchy Bangalore

The biggest carnival in the history of sports, the Indian Premier League, has lived up to all the hype and expectation of millions of fans across the globe in the first dozen games of the competition. While the level of skills displayed by the players has been at the forefront, the first week of the extravaganza highlighted a glaring issue that the teams will have to counter as the tournament progress, the dew. 

The boys from Bengaluru have plenty to ponder as they set foot at the Wankhede Stadium after contrasting performances in their two outings. Despite their batting unit firing in unison, they failed to defend a total of 206 against Punjab Kings in their inaugural game and struggled to chase down a target of 129 in the subsequent clash against the Knight Riders. 

While it will be early to gauge their start in this rejigged version of the tournament, Faf du Plessis and the team management would hope for the team to showcase their talent in probably the most riveting tournament in the shortest format of the game. 

However, it is not going to be an easy task as they face a battle out for supremacy against a fellow Royal in an evening encounter on 5th April at the iconic Wankhede Stadium. In a tournament filled with ebbs and flows, Rajasthan Royals are the only side to successfully defend their total not once but twice to register comprehensive wins to kickstart their campaign. 

While Bangalore will set foot at the venue with a slight advantage, having won four out of their last five encounters, Rajasthan would be itching to set things right after a promising start. Despite being on the opposite ends of the spectrum as far as the recent form is concerned, it promises to be an exciting contest with a plethora of match-winners on either side. And speaking of match-winners, here are a few interesting talking points and match-ups that can determine the outcome of the game:

Can Rajasthan counter the Hasaranga threat?

One of the most awaited battles in this match would be Waninudu Hasaranga against the top-order of the Royals. In the last league match against the Knight Riders, the leg spinner wreaked havoc in the middle overs by scalping four wickets for 20 runs in his four-over spell. 

However, the 24-year old will be up against a batting unit in ominous form, with Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson leading from the front in the last two games. While Buttler enthralled the fans at the DY Patil Stadium a couple of evenings ago with a scintillating hundred, Samson set the tone for a mammoth total in the first game with a destructive half-century. 

Despite the form on their side, things would be slightly different this time around as Buttler and Samson face their toughest nemesis, a quality leg spinner in the opposition. In this format, Buttler has a strike rate of 48 and failed to score a boundary against the Sri Lankan spinner in the 23 balls he has faced thus far. 

On the other hand, the skipper of the Royals endured a torrid time against Hasaranga as he has been dismissed on three occasions in 11 balls. With the duo shouldering the bulk of the responsibility of the Rajasthan outfit, du Plessis would be tempted to unleash his trump card to derail the batting unit of the opposition. 

Bangalore finally manage to unearth a finisher in Dinesh Karthik 

Over the years, Dinesh Karthik has been assigned the role of finishing matches for various teams and it is safe to say that he has done that with aplomb. 

While he ain't new to this role, he has translated his learnings and experience into match-winning performances for his new home, Bangalore. 

In the two matches, he walked in during the death overs and played crucial knocks for the Challengers in a high-pressure situation. The 36-year old has scored 186 runs in 13 innings since IPL 2019, with a ball per boundary ratio of 4.3 at the death, the best for him in all the phases. While Bangalore always have a top-order heavy batting unit, the addition of Karthik down the order bolsters their chances in pressure situations.

Eyes on Yuzvendra Chahal as he locks horns against his former team 

One of the talking points after the completion of the mega auctions was the new team for Yuzvendra Chahal. With 139 wickets in 112 innings, the leg spinner is the leading wicket-taker for Boys in Red and graduated to the national side after his exploits on batting-friendly surfaces at the Chinnaswamy. 

Plying his trade for the Boys in Red for eight years, the 31-year old scalped most wickets for them in four seasons, one behind Lasith Malinga and his toe-crushers for the Mumbai Indians. It is the start of a new journey for Chahal donning the pink jersey, and he would hope for it to be as rewarding as his previous franchise.  

Probable XI:

Rajasthan: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna

Bangalore: Faf du Plessis (c), Anuj Rawat, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Sherfane Rutherford, Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, David Willey, Harshal Patel, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj.