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Rajasthan Royals (RR) will meet Punjab Kings (PBKS) in match number 66 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Friday, May 19.
This is the last league game for both teams and a must-win one for them to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Of the two sides, Rajasthan are in a better position to progress to the next round, provided they beat Punjab by a huge margin on Friday and hope the other results as well as the net run rate scenario work in their favor. However, getting the better of PBKS, who are struggling, would be a challenge for RR.
Sanju Samson and Co. have been inconsistent in IPL 2023. Of the 13 matches, they have played so far, Rajasthan have won six and lost seven. They are sixth in the points table with 12 points and a net run rate of +0.140.
Ahead of the crucial IPL 2023 clash, we look at three things that RR need to do to get the better of PBKS on Friday.
#1 Put behind the horror of 59 all-out
The biggest challenge for Rajasthan, when they take on Punjab, will be more mental than physical.
In their previous match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), they suffered a major embarrassment when their entire batting outfit was bundled out for 59 in 10.3 overs, the third-lowest total in IPL’s history and the second-lowest ever for Rajasthan.
At the halfway stage of the match, RR had done well to restrict RCB to 171/5. However, their attempt to come out all guns blazing in the chase backfired as they lost half their side for 28 before the end of the powerplay. There was no way back for Rajasthan from the disastrous start.
Following the forgettable performance, Rajasthan Royals head coach Kumar Sangakkara termed the batting effort a poor one. He opined:
“I think we got a little bit carried away in the powerplay, thinking that we had to score too many runs there and try to be ultra-positive.”
While Sangakkara was spot-on in his assessment, the worry for RR is that the failure in the last game might force them to adopt a slightly more conservative approach. That could, however, also prove detrimental to the team’s cause.
As such, Rajasthan will need to find that fine balance so that they are positive, but not reckless.
#2 Batting department needs to fire as a unit
One of the key reasons why RR have struggled in IPL 2023 has been their overdependence on individual performances with the bat as opposed to performing as a unit.
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (575 runs) has done the bulk of the scoring for Rajasthan in recent times. Before his duck against RCB, he smashed 98* in a chase of 150 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Earlier, in a game against Mumbai Indians (MI), he contributed 124 out of a total of 212.
Jaiswal’s senior opening partner Jos Buttler began the edition in emphatic fashion but has gone off the boil in the second half. He has three ducks in his last seven innings, with two of them coming in consecutive matches in RR’s most recent encounters. Barring the 95 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, he has not played a single innings of note lately.
As has been the pattern with skipper Sanju Samson over the years in the IPL, he has continued to blow hot and cold. Some brilliant knocks have been followed by some rather mediocre ones.
Devdutt Padikkal has looked completely out of sorts, while Shimron Hetmyer has also lost rhythm after kicking off IPL 2023 in a sensational fashion.
#3 RR need to get their bowling combination right
Bowling combination is another area where RR need to be very smart when it comes to making tricky choices. They have had to suffer the consequences of poor decision-making.
In their previous match against RCB, Rajasthan left out their lead pacer Trent Boult. Unless there was some fitness issue with him, which wasn’t confirmed by the captain, it was a very poor move, even though Adam Zampa came in and did a commendable job.
The decision to play inexperienced pacer Kuldip Yadav in a match against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) also backfired as he went for 50 runs in his four overs and was taken apart by Glenn Phillips.
Of course, injuries have hampered RR, but they still need to weigh all available options in depth before arriving at a conclusion.
