Jaipur: Their playoff hopes hanging by a thread, the Rajasthan Royals will need an all-round improvement against the out-of-contention Lucknow Super Giants to stay alive in the Indian Premier League here on Tuesday. At the high-scoring Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Royals are yet to win a game this season and the final fixture here is a do or die one for the home team.
Following Tuesday's fixture, the Royals' last game is also against a vanquished outfit, the Mumbai Indians. In Delhi on Sunday night, RR should have out-batted Delhi Capitals but a lower order collapse cost them the match in which their fielding and bowling was also fairly ordinary.
Royals have been relying heavily on 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for flying starts but the youngster has not got enough support from Yashasvi Jaiswal at the other end. Dhruv Jurel has played some sublime knocks but the one on Sunday night was a rather subdued one with wickets falling at the other end.
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Captain Riyan Parag was underwhelming in the first half of the IPL but has picked up pace in the recent games. He would want his side to be much more clinical in the last five overs with the bat. The catching and fielding have generally been poor in the IPL and Royals too have been guilty of grassing easy chances.
Post the loss to Delhi Capitals, Parag had expressed his frustration with the team not playing to its potential in the business end of the tournament. "The fielding was poor. If we keep on playing like this, we shouldn't be in contention for the top four," Parag had stated while acknowledging that the team's fate is no longer in its own hands.
"I think that's depending on a lot of other teams as well. That is not how I like to lead. That is not how I like to speak to my team as well," he admitted when talking about the playoff chances
"So if we do not qualify, it's our fault. No-one else's. And yeah, next two games, we'll see what we can do better and hopefully get two wins," added Parag, who has been nursing a hamstring niggle. LSG, dealing with issues of their own, come into the game on the back of a rare win in the tournament.
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They beat Chennai Super Kings at home on May 15 and would be looking to play party-poopers in their remaining two games (last one against Punjab Kings). Batting has been their weakest link but Mitchell Marsh played a blinder against CSK to script a welcome win.
Rishabh Pant, who has not found a settled position in the batting order throughout the season, did not come out to bat in the last game, giving time in the middle to other batters. The season is done and dusted for LSG but wins in the remaining games would lessen the pain of an otherwise forgettable campaign.
Squads:
Rajasthan Royals: Shubham Dubey, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Riyan Parag (c), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Tushar Deshpande, Kwena Maphaka, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Sushant Mishra, Aman Rao Perala, Adam Milne, Kuldeep Sen, Dasun Shanaka, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Ravi Singh, Vignesh Puthur, Brijesh Sharma.
Lucknow Super Giants: Rishabh Pant (c), Abdul Samad, Ayush Badoni, Matthew Breetzke, Himmat Singh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Arshin Kulkarni, Mitchell Marsh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Shami, Prince Yadav, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Mayank Prabhu Yadav, Wanindu Hasaranga, Anrich Nortje, Josh Inglis, Mohsin Khan, Naman Tiwari, Akash Maharaj Singh, Mukul Choudhary, Manimaran Siddharth, Arjun Sachin Tendulkar, Akshat Raghuwanshi.
