Follow UsLucknow Super Giants might be one of the two new franchises but have taken very little time to make their presence felt in the Indian Premier League 2022. They managed to cover most of the bases in the mega auction and are now reaping rewards for putting up a well-balanced unit. Lucknow started their campaign with a close defeat against Gujarat Titans but have been on a three-match winning streak since then.
And, the Super Giants will now be up against another in-form team, Rajasthan Royals. The Sanju Samson-led side commenced the tournament with back-to-back wins over Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians but were undone by Shahbaz Ahmed and Dinesh Karthik’s brilliance in their last encounter against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Lucknow have more in-form players but the big guns have been doing the job for Rajasthan and they would want to get back to winning ways when they take on KL Rahul and Co. at the Wankhede Stadium in an evening encounter on Sunday (April 10).
Lucknow doing well as unit
There’s a reason why Lucknow have won three games in a row. Yes, Quinton de Kock and Rahul have been amongst runs, but the team management would be more delighted with the way Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni and Krunal Pandya have performed with the bat in the middle-order. Hooda has two half-centuries in four innings, while Badoni… Well, we all know how impressive the 22-year-old has been in his maiden IPL season. In fact, only Shimron Hetmyer (97 off 43 deliveries) has scored more runs than Badoni (74 off 39 deliveries).
Meanwhile, Krunal has got limited opportunities with the bat but the left-hander has chipped in with a couple of handy cameos. However, Lucknow have the third-worst scoring rate in the first six overs and this could hurt them in the long run. De Kock has been good against fast bowlers but both him and Rahul have struggled to get going against spin in the powerplay, operating at a strike rate of close to 110. The Royals have R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal in their arsenal and they could use the former to keep Rahul and de Kock quiet in the powerplay.
In the bowling department, Andrew Tye has been far from his best but Avesh Khan is living up to his price tag of 10 crore. The inclusion of Jason Holder has made life slightly easier for Avesh and Rahul, but Lucknow have relied more on their spinners when it comes to taking control of the game. Krunal (7.07) and Ravi Bishnoi (6.81) haven’t picked too many wickets but they have been very economical, while Krishnappa Gowtham finally got some game-time against Delhi Capitals and conceded only 23 runs in four overs.
Bishnoi, Chahal are again going to be crucial
Bishnoi and Chahal are both leg spinners but are poles apart from each other. The former mostly hits the pitch at a pretty decent pace and relies more on googlies, while Chahal is slightly slower and doesn’t shy away from flighting the ball on a consistent basis. And, the two have been instrumental in their respective teams’ success, especially while operating in the middle overs. The two have an economy of close to six in this phase and have also been amongst wickets.
Bishnoi didn’t have a great game against Gujarat but has finished with figures of 2/24, 0/29 and 2/22 in his last three matches. He will have to be slightly careful against the Rajasthan batters who have been ruthless against spinners in IPL 2022, scoring at a rate of 11.5 per over. On top of that, they have lost only one wicket to spin. Meanwhile, Chahal has scalped at least two wickets in every game and has an economy of just 5.25 this season. There are some in-form batters in both line-ups but they won’t have it easy when they come up against these two quality spinners.
Rajasthan need more from Jaiswal, Parag
Rajasthan have the best scoring rate (9.5), balls/boundary (4.8) and the third-best batting average (33.6) in the ongoing tournament but it’s all because of Jos Buttler, Hetmyer, Samson and Devdutt Padikkal. Buttler has scores of 35, 100 and 75* so far in this competition, while skipper Samson and Padikkal have also made match-winning contributions. And, then there is Hetmyer. The left-hander from West Indies has mastered the art of finishing the innings and has slammed 109 runs in three innings at a superb strike rate of 187.93.
Also read - Shimron Hetmyer: Embracing a complex role in an effortless manner
Buttler is currently the leading run-getter in the tournament but he hasn’t been at his brutal best in the powerplay (strike rate of 125.76) and that’s largely because of the lack of depth in RR’s batting line-up. The Royals have Ashwin slotted in at No. 7, and if Buttler departs early, Rajasthan could find themselves in trouble. What’s making it worse is that Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag have failed to repay the faith that the franchise have shown in them.
Talking about Jaiswal, the young left-hander has only managed 25 runs in three innings and has the worst average (21.08) for an opener in IPL since 2020 - (minimum of 10 innings). Meanwhile, Parag too has horrible numbers with the bat since the 2020 edition. Amongst batters who have batted at least 10 times at No. 6 or 7 in this time frame, Parag has the worst average (11.25) and strike rate (113.2).
If Rajasthan do feel like making a change in their batting line-up, they do have a couple of overseas options. Having played only three foreign players in their last two games, Rajasthan could bring in Daryl Mitchell in place of Jaiswal at the top-order. At the same time, they also have the option of bringing in James Neesham for Parag lower down the order. The two all-rounders from New Zealand can also chip in with a couple of overs of medium-pace, if and when needed.
Probable XIs
If Rajasthan decide to stick with the same batting line-up, left-arm paceman Obed McCoy could come in for Navdeep Saini. The latter has leaked 72 runs in six overs so far in this event. They could also replace Saini with Neesham but that would weaken their bowling attack.
Rajasthan Royals - Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Navdeep Saini/Obed McCoy, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Rajasthan have quite a few left-handers in their batting line and Lucknow are probably going to stick with offspinner Gowtham. Meanwhile, Evin Lewis did smash a half-century against Chennai Super Kings but has managed only 16 runs in the other innings. Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis is available and Lucknow could bring him in place of Lewis.
Lucknow Super Giants - KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Evin Lewis/Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Jason Holder, Krishnappa Gowtham, Andrew Tye, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan.
(All stats till April 8, 2022)