Two back-to-back losses have rendered a wobbly feel to the Rajasthan Royals, who otherwise have one of the most balanced line-ups in this season’s tournament. Punjab Kings must have taken note of that and will look to exploit that when the two teams face off in Mumbai on Saturday.
The Royals have six wins from 10 games and were looking well on course for a play-offs berth. But defeats to the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Mumbai Indians have suddenly raised questions about them.
The point to note in their two losses is that they could not cross the 160-mark while batting first in both the games. They possess the best batter of the season in Jos Buttler, captain Sanju Samson has been batting quite well and Shimron Hetmyer too has more often than not got his big hits going. But the Royals’ batting department hasn’t quite clicked in the last couple of matches and they have to do something about it.
One change that they can consider is bringing back Yashasvi Jaiswal in place of out-of-form opener Devdutt Padikkal.
Royals also need to bowl better. They have an excellent bowling attack. There is Trent Boult and Prasidh Krishna’s pace and the spin department boasts of Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin. But like their batters, the Royals’ bowlers too have slipped into a slumber it seems. Chahal, for example, has taken only two wickets in the last four games.
Chahal is still the leading wicket-taker of this edition with 19 scalps, but Kagiso Rabada is just two wickets away from him. Rabada will play a key role for Punjab on Saturday.
But for Punjab to overpower the Royals, it is their batters who have to put in a punch in their performance.
Punjab went for a new opening combination of Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow in their last game, with captain Mayank Agarwal demoting himself in the batting order. Bairstow was out for 1, but Dhawan went on to play a match-winning knock of 62 not out. With Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Liam Livingstone also in good touch, Punjab have a good chance of upsetting the Royals on Saturday.