Can the Rajasthan Royals overcome the Inconsistent KKR?

The seventh edition of the Indian Premier League is back in India. This means more thrilling games, louder crowds, jam-packed stadiums and massive expectations. With the season nearly half done, each team has played six matches, and the points table has started to provide indications of who the probable qualifiers will be for the knockout stages.

Occupying the central places in the table are the two immensely talented teams of Rajasthan and Kolkata. While both have shown good performances, it is Rajasthan with more points to their name due to more balanced team performances. The last encounter between these two sides in Abu Dhabi was the closest match of the tournament so far, with the scores being tied after 20 overs and again after the Super Over. Rajasthan eventually emerged victorious on virtue of having scored more boundaries during their innings, and Kolkata will surely want their revenge for that close fought loss.

Today’s game between these two teams will take place at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad, Rajasthan’s current home ground. This in itself is a benefit for Kolkata, since the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur has the reputation of being a fortress for the Rajasthan team. Nevertheless, Kolkata still have a formidable task ahead of them as the Rajasthan Royals are unbeaten in their last three games. The Kolkata team, meanwhile, have not won in their last three outings.

The Rajasthan team currently has multiple players who are in good form; Ajinkya Rahane is batting well and is regularly among the runs, and scored a free flowing 72 in his last outing against Kolkata. Meanwhile opening partner Karun Nair showed great composure in the previous game against Delhi, as he anchored the Rajasthan innings with an unbeaten 73 as his team stormed to a seven wicket win. Immensely talented wicketkeeper batsman Sanju Samson has also been regularly getting starts, but has so far failed to convert them into the big score that he is capable of. Captain Shane Watson is a consistent and reliable performer with both bat and ball, and has moved himself around the batting order, playing valuable cameos whenever necessary. Stuart Binny, Steven Smith, James Faulkner and Rajat Bhatia complete a formidable batting lineup.

In the bowling department, the Rajasthan setup continues to unearth exciting Indian talent, and uncapped bowlers Dhawal Kulkarni and Pravin Tambe have been very impressive this season. With Kane Richardson doing a good job of spearheading the attack and all-rounders Binny, Bhatia, Faulkner and skipper Watson chipping in regularly with wickets, their bowling seems to be well settled. The depth and versatility of their bowling attack was on display against Kolkata itself, as when Kolkata were at one stage cruising home, James Faulkner took three wickets in an over to change the course of the game.

The Kolkata setup has had many questions asked of it this season, and has failed to provide satisfactory answers so far. With just two wins in their six games so far, they have fallen far below expectations. The blame lies mainly with the senior batsmen of the team as with the exception of Kallis and Uthappa, they have failed to perform. Captain Gautam Gambhir in particular has been in horrible form, with a return of just 52 runs in his six innings, including 3 ducks. Yusuf Pathan too needs to step up and contribute more to the team score. Youngsters Manish Pandey and Suryakumar Yadav are the most consistent of the Kolkata batsmen, but lack the experience to get the wins for their team.

The Kolkata bowling department has been faultless, as they have kept their team in the hunt in every game. Seam trio Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav and Vinay Kumar regularly produce tight spells and get the breakthroughs, while Sunil Narine and Piyush Chawla have been lethal with the ball. Shakib ul Hasan has also contributed good spells. They regularly manage to restrict the opposition batsmen to below par scores, as was the case with the game against Chennai, where the formidable batting lineup of the Super Kings was restricted to a modest 140, and the game against Bangalore, which was won due to tight death bowling, but without the team’s batsmen firing, the bowling departments’ efforts are in vain.

In today’s game, Rajasthan will be looking to continue in their good vein of form, and will be reasonably confident of a win regardless of whether they are batting or bowling first. Kolkata, meanwhile, have to urgently address the problems in the batting department if they want to qualify for the playoffs, and will be hoping for a big innings from one of their senior players. With both teams’ bowlers in good form, we can expect another tight low scoring thriller like the previous encounter between these two teams.