In an odd parallel, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals will be facing similar concerns when they play one other in an IPL 2024 encounter on Saturday in Jaipur.
While RCB’s current position of eighth in the 10-team table is a good indicator of their problems, Rajasthan’s unbeaten record thus far and subsequent second place may not accurately reflect their struggles.
The interweaving factor amongst them is a lackluster top-order.
The RCB top-order, which includes Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Rajat Patidar, and captain Faf du Plessis, is a talent and explosive powerhouse. With the exception of ace batsman Virat Kohli, who now holds the Orange Cap with 203 runs and has hit two fifty, none of them have, however, struck either alone or in tandem.
While hitting 29 in their 28-run loss to Lucknow Super Giants, Patidar gave a peek of his ability to make clean shots, but he still has a lot more work to do to support the middle-order of the RCB.
The Bengaluru team will be hoping for a reverse at Sawai Man Singh Stadium, which shares characteristics with the home ground of the Royal Challengers of Bangalore (RCB) in that it has a surface that is smooth and an outfield that is quick to add value to strokes made by batsmen.
But the Royals have company among the RCB trio named earlier.
Yashasvi Jaiswal came into this IPL season off the back of some great recent performances, but the left-handed opener has only amassed 39 runs in three games, and Jos Buttler’s tale is not much different.
The England T20 skipper hasn’t looked nearly as formidable as he once did; in three appearances, he has only scored 35 runs with a meager 85 strike rate.
The skipper Sanju Samson (109 runs, one fifty) and the greatly improved Riyan Parag (181 runs, two fifties) have been the focal points of the Royals’ batting attack; eventually, though, they will need reliable backup from other players.
In terms of bowling, Rajasthan has an advantage over their rivals.
Together, seasoned leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and pacers Trent Boult and Nandre Burger have amassed 16 wickets in the early going.
Surprisingly, the only aspect of Rajasthan’s bowling that is lacking is the inconsistent performance of Ravichandran Ashwin, who has only claimed one wicket in three games while conceding 8.3 runs per over.
However, the skilled off-spinner has a good track record against RCB and can swiftly turn it around.
Fantasy teams: RR vs. RCB
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Trent Boult, Yash Dayal, Nandre Burger, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik, R Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj, Sanju Samson (c, wk), Riyan Parag, and Virat Kohli
RR vs RCB pitch report
We have witnessed 180+ runs by the tem batting first this season in Jaipur. There were two matches scheduled: one afternoon match and one evening match. In the evening match, batting was simpler, and on Saturday, we should anticipate this to continue.
RR vs RCB head-to-head overall
In the IPL, RR and RCB have faced off 30 times. In the end, RR has won 12 games compared to 15 for RCB. There have been three games with no outcome.
Matches played: 8
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 4
Rajasthan Royals: 4
