PRE MATCH ANALYSIS
Follow UsFor Rajasthan Royals (RR), it boils down to the performance of three players – Jos Buttler, Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal. Some support from Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer too has gone a long way in helping them into the top four, but with the latter set to miss a few games, it is going to be an uphill task for someone like Rassie Van der Dussen, James Neesham or Daryl Mitchell to fill his shoes and get going right away.
While Delhi Capitals (DC) remain in contention for a place in the top four, it’s their consistency that has been lacking and their confidence would have taken a further hit after a 91-run thrashing at the hands of Chennai Super Kings (CSK). DC have lost both their matches at the DY Patil by big margins.
They play their next two games including this one at same venue and cannot afford anymore slip-ups.
RR’s magical spin duo
With a total of 32 wickets, no team’s spinners have struck more than RR, accounting for 47% of the team’s wickets. While Ashwin initially was more of a containing bowler, in the last six matches, he has managed to pick up eight wickets at 21.6, proving to be an excellent partner to Chahal.
Whenever they have picked up a combined three-plus wickets, RR have gone on to win the match. They haven’t won a single game where spinners have picked up two or less. Among the finger spinners, only Maheesh Theekshana (11) has picked up more wickets than Ashwin (9). His battle against Warner will be an interesting one as Ashwin has dismissed the southpaw on five occasions in T20s – the most by a spinner.
As far has Chahal is concerned, 50% of his wickets have come at the death, which is uncommon for a spinner. However, he has struggled to pick up wickets or keep the runs in control when he is given the 18th or 19th over, picking up just a solitary wicket. Ideally, if Chahal has to bowl at the death, he should be given overs 16 and 17, a phase where he has picked up 10 wickets and not given away too many.
Buttler’s approach
Buttler has two fifties and a century in his three innings at the DY Patil Stadium and will be looking to continue his top form at the venue. His task at the top has gotten easier given that he now opens with Yashasvi Jaiswal and not Devdutt Padikkal.
Buttler had to take the upper hand while opening with Padikkal in the first 10 deliveries of his innings, striking at 112 and includes a dot% of close to 60. However, he has taken a back seat when he opens with Jaiswal hitting at 75 and dot% of 70. After missing out for a month, Jaiswal struck a match-winning 41-ball 68 against Punjab Kings (PBKS), which is a huge boost for RR.
This not just gives Buttler a chance to go easy at the top, but also, Paddikal can come in at three or four and play according to the situation – go big if the situation demands or play a sheet-anchor’s role when required.
Worries for RR
In the batting department, it is Samson’s form inside the powerplay. In the seven innings he has come during the first six overs, he has managed 174 runs at 24.9 and a strike-rate of 131. However, he has been in top form post the powerplay, he has scored at an average of 49 and strike-rate in excess of 200. Given that RR go in with a view of maintaining the left-right combination at the top. Samson will walk in if Buttler goes early, exposing him to the first six overs – something he needs to work on.
On the bowling front, the form of Trent Boult is a concern. Since his return from a niggle, he has picked up just two wickets from six matches. Before that, he had six wickets at 16.6 from four matches. Moreover, he has gone wicketless in four matches this season. His worst run was last season where he had five innings like that.
Contrasting fortunes for Khaleel and Shardul
DC’s Left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed has picked up at least one wicket in every match this season. Furthermore, in six of his eight innings, he has picked up two wickets or more. Among bowlers who have picked up at least 10 wickets this season, Khaleel’s average of 15.5 is the second-best for a pacer.
He has also been effective in all three phases, picking up four in the first six, six in the middle and at the death. He has been exceptional especially against the right-handers, angling the ball nicely across with some well-disguised variations.
Shardul, on the other hand, has had one of his worst IPL seasons, picking up nine wickets at 42. With Kagiso Rabada moving on and Anrich Nortje being benched for most of the season, Shardul has had to bowl a lot more in the powerplay this season than he usually has previously.
He has bowled 46% of his overs in the powerplay this season, compared to just 32 in the previous seasons. Bowling so many overs in the powerplay has meant that a chunk of his full quota is done in the initial phase and not in the middle and the death, where he has previously tasted success.
Kuldeep’s dipping form
Kuldeep Yadav was going toe-to-toe with Chahal when it came to the competition for the Purple Cap. However, Kuldeep has fallen behind the eight-ball. In the first six matches, he had 13 wickets at 14.3, but in the last five, he has managed just five wickets at 33.2 and has conceded over 10 an over.
28% of his deliveries have been full and the batters have managed to dispatch it with ease. However, when he pulls the length back (4-6m) – where he has bowled 61% of his deliveries, he has been successful, having picked up 12 of his 18 wickets pitching in that area.
After years of uncertainty, injuries and a surgery, Kuldeep seemed to have grabbed his opportunity, but is it slowly slipping away?
Probable XI:
Rajasthan Royals
In Hetmyer’s absence, RR are likely to go in with Van der Dussen, who has scored 10 runs from two innings so far. However, the options of all-rounder James Neesham and New Zealand’s makeshift opener Daryl Mitchell present Royals with solid options. Given that Boult is struggling for form, an extra bowling option in Neesham will do no harm.
Hetmyer will be a huge miss for the Royals, especially at the death, as he is one of four players with a strike-rate of over 200 in that phase (Min: 100 runs)
Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer/James Neesham, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Sen.
Delhi Capitals
With Nortje back in the XI, it gives Shardul an opportunity to bowl most of his overs after the powerplay. But, if DC need another oprtion, they have Chetan Sakariya on the bench, who could compliment Khaleel and Nortje well.
David Warner, Srikar Bharat, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Rovman Powell, Axar Patel, Ripal Patel, Shardul Thakur/Chetan Sakariya, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Anrich Nortje
