The Rajasthan Royals face the Bangalore Royal Challengers in the second of Super Saturday double-header matches in second season of Indian Premier League.
And it won’t be far from the truth to term Rajasthan Royals as favourites (5/6 by Stan James) going into this match; after all, the team from Bangalore had an awful first season and had finished seventh out of the eight teams.
On the other hand, it will be foolhardy to under-estimate the Royal Challengers after the shake-ups it has had. The CEO was a goner in the middle of the last season itself, where as Martin Crowe resigned immediately after the tournament. The erstwhile skipper Rahul Dravid was sacked – he still maintains his place as a batsman – and has been replaced by Kevin Pietersen.
However, Pietersen is another story altogether, something that could have a bearing on the Royal Challengers’results. If one were to stitch up his past, then it makes for a very colourful and spicy reading; however, it also ends in his sacking as the skipper of the English team after a head-on collision with the ECB. Whether this maverick captain will be able to shrug off the odds of 10/11 offered by Stan James and beat a more illustrated opponent remains to be seen.
Shane Warne is the opposing captain and his win-loss record at the IPL is a superlative 13-3; almost miraculous in this format of the game. The Rajasthan Royals did lose their warm-up match against the Cape Cobras – and rather easily at that – but it can be attributed to Warne trying out a few new faces in the line-up. One can expect the Royals to take the field with all their guns blazing come Saturday.
At this stage, the top Bangalore RC bowler is tipped to be Dale Steyn – 1/1 by Sky Bet – where as the same company offers 9/4 for Shaun Tait to end up highest wickets for the Royals. With South Africa playing no international cricket till the end of the tournament, and Australia not having selected Tait inn their squad against Pakistan, the duo have the pace to rattle a few opponents, and their stumps. The one tempting offer that I see is the 11/4 that Stan James has offered for Praveen Kumar. Kumar should feature in all the matches for the Challengers and if he does manage to get a little assistance in the night, his ‘banana-swinging’ deliveries could be more than useful.
Amongst the batsmen, Rajasthan Royals has a rather long list of those who could finish atop of the pile. Graeme Smith (15/8 by William Hill) should play in most matches and although a little out of form, could make amends in the IPL. His opening partner Swapnil Asnodkar had impressed everyone last season and 888 Sport has offered 7/2 for him being the top-scorer for the Royals in the tournament.
However, my personal favourite here is Yusuf Pathan who has been tipped at 6/1 by Stan James and yet has the capability to clear the fence with ease. The reason why he is not a favourite to clinch the highest run-scoring crown is probably because he bats lower down the order. However, my gut instinct says that Warne may want to experiment with Pathan higher up the order, and so a part of my money will be on this all-rounder!
