Rajasthan Royals won its first two matches and lost the next two. The successive defeats, at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore, have put Steve Smith’s men on the backfoot.
The addition of arguably the world’s best allrounder — Ben Stokes — could well lift the team’s morale. The Englishman, who is already in the UAE, is expected to be available for Royals’ match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on October 11 after he completes his quarantine.
“Stokes will change the formation of our eleven,” Royals coach Andrew McDonald said. “We have to pick the right team at the right time. That’s the real challenge.”
McDonald, however, ruled out changes in the top-order. “(We have) Jos (Buttler) and Steve at the top and Sanju (Samson) coming in at three,” he said. “The best players getting the most number of balls gives the best opportunity to win games.” McDonald said the side’s fielding needed to improve.
“Just when we were building pressure against RCB, it was released by some poor fielding.”
He said the players were putting in their best. “Sometimes there are errors and we have to minimise them in all three departments.”
The Royals coach said Mahipal Lomror did a fantastic job against Kohli’s men. “We backed him to bat in the middle-order and it worked.”
He didn’t seem concerned about the form of senior players Robin Uthappa and Jaydev Unadkat. “They are quality players,” he said.
