In the next part of the battle of Keeper Captains, Sanju Samson’s Rajasthan Royals (RR) takes on Rishabh Pant’s Delhi Capital.s (DC). The Rajasthan skipper though played a mesmerizing inning, could not complete the win for the team, while Delhi was able to coast to a comfortable victory over the Chennai Super Kings. Though different outcomes for the respective debutant captains, both of them impressed in different facets of the game.
In view of tomorrow’s match, We take an in-depth analysis into different potential matches that could match up tomorrow to try and understand where the respective teams can attain an advantage for an upper hand in the game.
Dhawan vs Chris Morris & Shreyas Gopal
With Dhawan continuing where he stopped in the last IPL and Chris Morris taking on new ball responsibilities in the absence of Jofra Archer, all eyes will be on this potential match-up. The Indian batsman in peak form cannot be troubled by many bowlers and Chris Morris falls into such a category.
With 40 balls bowled to the southpaw, Dhawan has scored 54 runs being dismissed only once. Shreyas Gopal has fared much worse with 41 runs scored off his 23 balls, with balls per boundary standing at 3.83 although he got the Indian batsman’s wicket twice.
Verdict: Dhawan will be bullish about his chances of scoring big proving too much to handle.
Rishabh Pant vs Mustafizur Rahman & Shreyas Gopal
The Delhi skipper had not much to do once he came on the crease in the last game as the runs had already been accumulated. Still, he has the potential to set all hell loose with his hard-hitting capabilities and Rajasthan will be wary of getting his wicket early.
This will be a very hard task considering Rajasthan Royals hasn't tasted much success against the Delhi skipper with 38 off 26 balls scored against Shreyas Gopal and 50 of 29 against Mustafizur Rahman. Although it is to be noted runs against the spin bowler have come at a much lower strike rate of 146.15 compared to 172.41 against pace if that's any consolation.
Verdict: Rajasthan will attack with spin hoping to trip the wicketkeeper-batsman early.
Sanju Samson vs Chris Woakes, Amit Mishra & Ravichandran Ashwin
The Rajasthan skipper was at his blistering best, blasting his way to the century the last match. With a score of 217, Sanju scoring more than half the team's runs will be something the Delhi bowlers will take note of.
Hence getting him out early will be absolutely pivotal. In our analysis, Amit Mishra looks like the man for this task as Sanju Samson has scored only 8 runs off the leg spinner’s 19 balls claiming his wicket once. With Ravichandran Ashwin also able to trouble the batsman as he has claimed his wicket once and balls per boundary stand at 9.75. Paceman Chris Woakes though has been completely blown away with a strike rate of 222.22 against him.
Verdict: Amit Mishra will be key to control the devastation Sanju Samson can impose.
Jos Buttler vs Marcus Stoinis & Ravichandran Ashwin
The English batsman will be a much-needed experience and will be heavily depended upon to solidify their batting in the middle overs. Although scoring some quick runs in the first match he will be keen to make a huge impact in the coming game. Against Marcus Stoinis, he has scored 22 runs off 18 balls with a strike rate of 122.22.
With 5 dot balls and 3 boundaries, the English batsman’s balls per boundary against the Australian bowler stand at 6.0. He has struggled to score much freely against spin, with his strike rate against Ashwin standing at a 100. Scoring 27 runs off 27 balls, Buttler has failed to a single boundary against the bowler.
Verdict: Jos Buttler will be under pressure to perform with Delhi bowlers capable of matching up to him.
With few hours remaining, and the stage is set for the battle to take place. Delhi will be keen to get a win under their belt and consolidate their position in the top, while Rajasthan will be eager to avenge their defeat in the first match. Let us know your thoughts on our analysis and who do you think has an upper hand in this game.
Stats Credits: Arghyadip Ganguly
