It is a long tournament where a win or a loss in the initial stages shouldn’t matter. But look closely at the standings of the Rajasthan Royals and the Sunrisers Hyderabad, who will meet in the first of the two games of the Indian Premier League 2020 on October 11, in the points table and you will know the difference a win can make.
Both teams are separated by just one win but on the points table, Royal’s stand second from the bottom. The Sunrisers who were among the top three until Saturday have been pushed to number five after Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Chennai Super Kings. The points table increasingly looks like the shifting sands of UAE where this year’s edition is being played.
“It’s been a difficult four games for us. We’ve not been able to get in the performances under pressure and that has hurt us,” admitted Royals’ captain Steve Smith.
The Aussie openers and captains
In many ways, this is a contest between two Australians— one who has led his national team in the past and the other who may never do so because of an infamous incident both were a part of a couple of years back.
But then, this is the IPL where friends turn into foe and vice versa. Smith’s hope of a good show will be bolstered by the inclusion of Ben Stokes in the playing XI who will get his first game of the season as he comes out of quarantine.
SRH captain David Warner has shown the typical Australian resilience by being indifferent to his seasoned pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s absence from the tournament. Smith also knows that Warner doesn’t like facing RR trump card Jofra Archer in white-ball cricket. The England pacer has got the better of the Australian batsman on all five occasions during the recent ODI and T20 series.
The powerplayers
The batting powerplay will once again play a decisive role in this battle. The Sunrisers have adopted the strategy of measured aggression, losing just four wickets in the powerplay this season. The Royals have disintegrated too often when field restrictions are in place that allow batsmen to go for big hits. They have lost 11 wickets, the most in this IPL, during powerplays.
“Our batting needs to click for us, we have not been able to get a good start in our four games and the top four just haven’t been able to score a lot of runs in games, which has been detrimental for us and we’ll have to address that and try to bounce back from this situation,” said Smith in a release ahead of the game.
Rashid vs Buttler
Rashid Khan is the greatest hope of SRH and the Royals realise that if opener Jos Buttler can turn a corner in his ridiculously lopsided contest against the Afghan leg-spinner, they are on to something.
Since 2018, Rashid has in eight balls conceded only four runs and got Buttler four times! “I (am) just trying my best to keep it simple for myself. I’m not putting too much pressure on myself. Go there and enjoy my bowling that is what I have been doing so far,” said Khan, who has been modest about his terrific run in this edition.
Likely XI
Rajasthan Royals: Steven Smith (captain), Jos Buttler (wicket-keeper), Robin Uthappa, Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Mahipal Lomror, Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Varun Aaron and Kartik Tyagi.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (captain), Jonny Bairstow (wicket-keeper), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Priyam Garg, Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Rashid Khan, T Natarajan, Khaleel Ahmed and Basil Thampi
(Vimal Kumar is a senior sports journalist who has covered multiple cricket world cups and Rio Olympics in the last two decades. Vimal is also the author of Sachin: Cricketer Of The Century and The Cricket Fanatic’s Essential Guide.)
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