Rajasthan Royals have an effective bowling attack, possessing balance and variety. They also have a batting line-up where most of the personnel are in form. All that together have turned them into a formidable outfit in IPL 2022 and the Royal Challengers Bangalore, who face the Sanju Samson-led side in Pune on Tuesday, will have to put in that extra yard to come out triumphant from the contest.
It’s not that RCB have done too badly so far in the tournament. But they suffered a demoralising nine-wicket thrashing at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last game and would hope that the scars from that match don’t haunt them on Tuesday.
RCB will also have to ensure that they are not distracted by the lean patch of Virat Kohli. The spotlight has been on the former captain for all the wrong reasons after he returned back-to-back golden ducks. But with players such as captain Faf du Pessis, Glenn Maxwell and Dinesh Karthik featuring in their team, RCB are capable of making good runs even without Kohli.
The job for Kohli will not be any easier against the Royals, who have Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin and Prasidh Krishna marshalling their bowling attack.
A bigger challenge for RCB might be to contain the Royals’ batting might. Spearheaded by Jos Buttler, who has already struck three centuries this season, the Royals have also benefited from Samson and Shimron Hetmyer’s exploits with the bat.
Josh Hazlewood’s inclusion in the XI has made RCB’s bowling attack much stronger. Along with Harshal Patel’s death overs expertise and Wanindu Hasaranga’s attacking spin-bowling, RCB will need Hazlewood to be at his best in Pune, a venue which has seen high scores this season.
Both the teams have won five matches so far, but RCB have played a game more than the Royals.