Jaipur: Rajasthan Royals will turn up against Mumbai Indians with renewed vigour as they aim to halt the five-time champions’ surging momentum in the Indian Premier League here on Thursday.
With 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi potentially playing the knock of the tournament on Monday, the Royals have found a ray of hope in what has been an IPL campaign of missed opportunities.
The hosts still have a mathematical chance of making the play-offs but deep down the management has accepted its fate.
A side strain to skipper Sanju Samson paved the way of Suryavanshi’s debut and it only took him three innings to become the talking point of the cricketing world.
Samson last played on April 16 and there is no clarity over his comeback, leaving Suravanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal to open the innings again. Their 166-run stand against Gujarat Titans ensured they made short work of the 210-run target.
Having put bowlers of international repute to the sword, it would be interesting to see how southpaw Suryavanshi fares against Jasprit Bumrah.
Lower down the order, there will be pressure on Shimron Hetmyer who has not been at his ballistic best this season where the pitches have been on the slower side.
What will probably make the difference in their ordinary run is their inability to close games from winning positions.
In the pace department, Jofra Archer has provided the breakthroughs but has conceded close to 10 runs per over. Sandeep Sharma too has proved to be a tad expensive. In fact, none of their frontline bowlers have an economy rate of less than 9.
For Hardik Pandya-led Mumbai Indians, the return of Bumrah has coincided with their ascent to the top of the table. The perennial slow starters have now collected five wins on the bounce and look unstoppable.
“This competition is very tough, can’t get carried away. We need to play good cricket, always prepare for the next game and keep up with the momentum going forward,” Pandya had said after the win over LSG.
One of the positives for MI in the previous game was the performance of debutant Corbin Bosch who scored at a strike rate of 200 besides taking a wicket.
With likes of Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma back at their best, MI seem to be peaking at the right time, an ominous sign for the opposition teams.
Squads:
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Sanju Samson, Dhruv Jurel, Kunal Singh Rathore, Riyan Parag, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Nitish Rana, Sandeep Sharma, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya, Kwena Maphaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Ashok Sharma, Jofra Archer.
Mumbai Indians: Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, Bevon Jacobs, Ryan Rickelton, Robin Minz, Krishnan Shrijith, Hardik Pandya, Naman Dhir, Raj Bawa, Vignesh Puthur, Will Jacks, Mitchell Santner, Jasprit Bumrah, Arjun Tendulkar, Ashwani Kumar, Reece Topley, Lizaad Williams, Karn Sharma, Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar, Satyanarayana Raju, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
Match starts 7.30 PM IST.
