Royals eye winning return at home against Daredevils
JAIPUR: Rajasthan Royals will need to regroup quickly after a heavy loss when they face Delhi Daredevils in what will be their first IPL home game in five years at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Thursday.
Both Royals and Daredevils were outplayed in their opening games and will be itching to bounce back.
Daredevils were severely hit by KL Rahul’s fastest fifty against Kings XI Punjab, losing in Mohali by six wickets.
Royals, on the other hand, could never cope with the bowling might of Sunrisers Hyderabad and went down by nine wickets in Hyderabad on Monday.
It was a rather forgettable opening for the hosts who are making a comeback in the tour- Total matches nament after serving a two-year suspension.
Skipper Ajinkya Rahane too would like to forget the outing where he failed with the bat and missed a sitter in slips only to see a complete rout of his team.
The comfort zone of playing at home may give the desired dose of much needed confidence but the cracks exposed against Sun- risers need to be addressed quickly. The batting order in absence of Steve Smith looked brittle, the overseas players including Ben Stokes looked shaky against the spinners and the bowlers lost heart once the batsmen could put only 125 on the board.
Barring a 49 by Sanju Samson, none of the other batsmen showed any confidence nor they could build any partnerships.
The shrewd cricketing brain and mentor of the side, legendary Shane Warne, will have to lift the morale of the side and he might use the success stories of home ground to motivate his men.
Meanwhile, New Zealand legspinner Ish Sodhi has been signed by the Rajasthan Royals as a replacement for injured Afghanistan bowler Zahir Khan.
Gautam Gambhir will become the eighth player to appear in 150 IPL matches