Rajasthan Royals in need of batting rejig as Mumbai Indians look to keep momentum going
The Royals would want to see Sanju Samson break out of his rut in their second outing in Abu Dhabi
Sreshth Shah
05-Oct-2020
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The fortunes of the Mumbai Indians and the Rajasthan Royals have gone in opposite directions this past week. While defending champions Mumbai are searching for their third win in a row, the Royals are looking to avoid a third straight defeat. But Mumbai are a team the Royals love facing; they've won each of their last four matches against the four-time champions.
But if the Royals need to win, they need Sanju Samson to fire like he did in their first two games, where he struck 74 and 89. Ever since the Royals have moved away from Sharjah, Samson has not reached double-digits, and the Royals would be desperate to see him break out of his rut in their second outing in Abu Dhabi. What they also need is more from their soft middle order that comprises Robin Uthappa and Riyan Parag, who have struggled to dominate bowlers with their string of low scores.
Their lower-middle order has made up for most of those disappointments, with Rahul Tewatia, Tom Curran and Jofra Archer finding form across their four games, and so one can only imagine how good their batting could be if they all performed in unison. It could also be Curran's last match for the time being, with Ben Stokes nearing the end of his quarantine.
For Mumbai, each of their batsmen has performed across different games. Quinton de Kock, Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya had a good day out against the the Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday, while Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav and Kieron Pollard chipped in as well during their last few games. Add three international-quality pace bowlers in Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult and James Pattinson, and they are now one of the very few teams who seem to have their best XI in place. When Mumbai get on a roll, they are difficult to stop.
Likely XIs
Rajasthan Royals: 1 Jos Buttler (wk), 2 Steven Smith (capt), 3 Sanju Samson, 4 Robin Uthappa, 5 Rahul Tewatia, 6 Mahipal Lomror, 7 Riyan Parag/Ankit Rajpoot, 8 Tom Curran, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Shreyas Gopal, 11 Jaydev Unadkat
Mumbai Indians: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), Rohit Sharma (capt), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Ishan Kishan, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 James Pattinson, 9 Trent Boult, 10 Rahul Chahar, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
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Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo