Rajasthan Royals (RR) will take on the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Sawai Mansingh stadium in Jaipur on April 27. RR will be looking to get back to winning ways after two consecutive defeats in their last two games. The Sanju Samson-led side have won four and lost three out of their seven games so far.
RR dominated their first game of the season against SRH but lost their second game to PBKS by 5 runs. The Royals bounced back from the defeat against Punjab Kings to beat Delhi Capitals by 57 runs in Guwahati. In the reverse fixture Rajasthan Royals beat the Chennai Super Kings by 3 runs in a thrilling game at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. RR made it three wins in a row as they beat the reigning champions Gujarat Titans by 3 wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. RR lost narrowly to LSG in their first game in Jaipur this season as a disciplined LSG bowling unit prevented RR from getting to a target of 155 and RR eventually lost the game by 10 runs. Last time out, RR lost to RCB by 7 runs as they could not chase down a target of 190 in Bangalore.
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Jos Buttler has scored 244 runs so far in seven innings. Hetmyer failed to make a contribution in the last couple of games but has been in good form this season having scored 189 runs. Yashasvi Jaiswal has scored 227 runs and skipper Samson has chipped in with 181 runs so far. Dhruv Jurel and Ashwin have also contributed well to the teams batting lower down the order.
{{/usCountry}}Jos Buttler has scored 244 runs so far in seven innings. Hetmyer failed to make a contribution in the last couple of games but has been in good form this season having scored 189 runs. Yashasvi Jaiswal has scored 227 runs and skipper Samson has chipped in with 181 runs so far. Dhruv Jurel and Ashwin have also contributed well to the teams batting lower down the order.
{{/usCountry}}Devdutt Padikkal returned to form in the last game with a well-made half-century and has now scored 165 runs this season. Riyan Parag has been in poor form this season and as a result has been in and out of the team. He has also been utilised as an Impact player as well but hasn’t made a notable contribution to the team’s efforts so far.
The bowlers have done well as a unit. Chahal has scalped twelve wickets at an economy of eight, Ashwin and Boult have both picked up nine wickets at an economy of seven and eight respectively. Sandeep Sharma has also picked up seven wickets and Jason Holder has also chipped in with a few important scalps.
The RR hierarchy will hope that the team can break their losing streak as they will need to have momentum on their side going into the business end of the season. Riyan Parag, M Ashwin or Kuldeep Sen might be utilised as the Impact player depending on whether RR bat or field first.
Here’s RR’s likely XI vs CSK:
Openers: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Middle Order: Dhruv Jurel, Sanju Samson (c) (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal.
All-Rounders: Ravichandran Ashwin, Jason Holder.
Bowlers: Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, Sandeep Sharma.
Impact Player
RR will rely on Riyan Parag, M Ashwin, Kuldeep Sen for their Impact Player option.