Abu Dhabi: Rajasthan Royals (RR) will need to rejig their Indian line-up slightly when they face Mumbai Indians (MI) in an IPL-13 encounter here Tuesday. It should be stated here that Rajasthan Royals after a bright start have lost two games in a row. On the other hand MI have gone from strength to strength after losing their opening game against CSK.
“The last two games haven’t gone to plan for us after what was a really good start to the tournament. But I guess that’s the way T20 cricket goes sometimes. We have been outplayed by the opposition on both occasions,” RR skipper Steve Smith said on the eve of the match. “Hopefully, I will be able to score a few runs tomorrow (Tuesday). I’ve missed out on the last two games but that happens,” Smith added.
MI, on the other hand, have been solid in their last couple of games. They are currently on top of the points table by virtue of a better net run-rate compared to Delhi Capitals. Both sides have six points each.
MI had suffered a heart-breaking ‘Super Over’ loss to RCB few days back. But since then they have bounced back defeating KXIP and SRH by 48 and 34 runs respectively.
The best part of MI’s camaign so far is that they have ticked almost all the boxes. Skipper Rohit Sharma (176) has been in good touch and now Quinton de Kock is also looking ominous.
Kieron Pollard is consistent as ever, Ishan Kishan has looked solid. Hardik Pandya is also finishing games with the bat while brother Krunal joined the party in the last game.
MI’s replacement pacer James Pattinson (seven wickets) has been a revelation. Then they have the redoubtable Jasprit Bumrah and the crafty Trent Boult. Once Hardik starts bowling, all the pieces of the puzzle will nicely fit in.
In contrast, Royals would like to arrest the slide before Ben Stokes completes his quarantine. The England all-rounder will be available from October 11.
One of the primary reasons of their fall has been the poor form of Jos Buttler (47 runs from three games). Also pacer Jaydev Unadkat (one wicket from four games at 9.97 economy) has failed to fire. The young Riyan Parag has also seemed completely out-of-depth unlike last year.
Smith might consider dropping Parag, who is not exactly a top of the line off-spinner. He may give another much-talked-about youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal a go at the top of the order. Smith might bring himself in the middle to give stability to the line-up. He indicated that there could be a few changes.
“We will see which of our players fit in our plans for tomorrow’s match and try to get the best combination against MI,” Smith said.