IPL 2018 RR v KXIP: 5 player battles to look forward to between Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab

After having lost a tight game against the Kings XI Punjab on Sunday, bottom-placed Rajasthan Royals will face the same opponents in a must-win game at Jaipur tonight. The Rahane-led side were undone by an outstanding innings from KL Rahul on Sunday but they must get their act together if they are to have any chance of somehow making it into the top-4 this season.

The stars in the RR line-up need to deliver tonight and it will be tough against KXIP, who are at third place but would want to push into the top-2 by the end of the league stage.

Ultimately, the game is going to be decided by some of the individual clashes that will take place tonight between the stars from either side and here is a look at 5 of the most important ones.

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#5 Ajinkya Rahane v Ravichandran Ashwin

The RR captain may have failed in his previous innings but in his latest game at home, he made an unbeaten 65 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, albeit in a losing cause. In addition to that, he has an excellent record in Jaipur and has a T20 average of 45.8 at the venue. Hence, RR would expect him to come good in this crunch game, and now that he is batting at number 3, he would most probably run into a battle with his opposite number Ravichandran Ashwin in tonight’s game.

The duel between India team-mates will be an absorbing one and will definitely have a big say on the RR batting effort. While Mujeeb Ur Rahman has rightly hogged the spotlight, Ashwin has gone about is job quietly and has provided KXIP attack with a degree of control in the middle overs. He has only given away 7.69-an-over and although he has not taken many wickets (6 in 9 games), his spells have proven to be very important. It remains to be seen how he performs against Rahane tonight.

#4 Jos Buttler v Ankit Rajpoot

Jos Buttler

The English wicketkeeper-batsman’s elevation to the top of the order has been a masterstroke from the RR team management and Jos Buttler has delivered in both the games in which he has opened. In tonight’s game at Jaipur, he would be involved in an opening tussle with KXIP’s fast bowler Ankit Rajpoot for the 2nd time in four days.

In the previous game, Buttler faced 6 deliveries from the KXIP fast bowler and hit him out of the attack by slamming three boundaries in the over. He went for 37 in his 3 overs and tonight, Rajpoot would definitely want to put up a better show against the Englishman.

The fast bowler has been one of the brighter spots in the KXIP bowling attack since he was included in the eleven but the previous game was a bit of a nightmare for him. The rerun of this battle against Buttler is going to be a very interesting one.

#3 Jofra Archer v Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle

The Jamaican had been in scorching form in the IPL before the previous game against RR but in that game, Jofra Archer’s pace and hostility made Chris Gayle visibly uncomfortable. Eventually, the West Indian bowler got his wicket and needless to say, Gayle would be itching to get back in tonight so that he can set the record straight.

Despite his poor show in the previous game, he is still averaging 77.50 and has recorded a strike rate of 149.75, which is why the RR bowler would also need to be at his best if he is to repeat what he did on Sunday night. The return of Archer has significantly improved the RR bowling attack and his return of 8 wickets in 4 games, to go along with an economy rate of 8.22 makes him the best bowler in the side. His battle with Gayle tonight is going to be another blockbuster and promises to be a match-defining one.

#2 Sanju Samson v Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Sanju Samson

RR’s top run-scorer Sanju Samson looked in excellent touch in the previous game against KXIP on Sunday night, before he perished against the run of play and his dismissal started a slide that saw the team eventually end up with a below par score. Although he is an excellent player of fast bowling, spin has proven to be a challenge for him and it is his duel with KXIP’s Mujeeb Ur Rahman that is going to have a huge bearing on the game.

Samson is RR’s highest run-scorer and his wicket will be a big blow to their batting effort, which is why it won’t be surprising if Ashwin brings on his strike bowler as soon as the wicketkeeper-batsman comes in to bat. In the previous game, Mujeeb broke the back of the RR innings by taking 3/27 in his 4 overs and was awarded the man of the match. He has taken a total of 12 wickets so far and has recorded an outstanding economy rate of 6.85.

#1 Shreyas Gopal v KL Rahul

KL Rahul

KL Rahul’s 54-ball 84 in the last game was the difference between victory and defeat for RR and in tonight’s game, they must find a way to get him early. If he gets going again, then there is every chance that he will run away with the game. He has been in excellent form this season and has emerged as KXIP’s highest run-scorer this season, with a total of 376 runs in 9 games. He has recorded an average of 47 and is striking at a rate of 162.77. Those are incredible numbers, and a long innings from him almost guarantees a great batting effort from KXIP.

Something that RR could try is to get their leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal to bowl at Rahul during the Powerplay. Records suggest that the Indian batsman might be vulnerable to leg-spin. Dating back to the IPL in 2015, Rahul has been dismissed by leg-spinners in eight out of 15 games. Additionally, Gopal’s record against right-handed batsmen also suggests that it is going to be an engrossing battle of wits. The leg-spinner has got the better of right-handed batsmen in five out of the seven games.