IPL 2019 – Match 14: Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore – RR Predicted Playing XI

The Match 14 of IPL 2019 will witness the Royal Derby. The Rajasthan Royals (RR) will play hosts to the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Jaipur. The Sawai Mansingh Stadium has been quite a fortress for the Rajasthan team over the year. However, the Kings XI Punjab managed to breach, Mankad rather, in the previous game and defeated the home team.

For their next two matches, Rajasthan went down south to face Hyderabad and Chennai. The team surely performed well but the oppositions were slightly better. Thus, this leaves them with no wins as yet even after three games into the tournament. Facing the Bangalore team, they would like to get off the mark and get two points under their belt. But more importantly, RR will have to take one or two massive calls ahead of this encounter.

Here is the Predicted Playing XI for the Rajasthan Royals (RR):

Openers (Jos Buttler (wk), Ajinkya Rahane (c))

Two setbacks in the last two games and there wouldn’t be anyone more eager than Jos Buttler to get back to the run-scoring ways. He started off the tournament brilliantly and enjoys playing in Jaipur. A lot of RR’s fortunes will depend on how this man fires. Once he gets going, Buttler is usually unstoppable.

Ajinkya Rahane is surely hitting the ball much better than he did in the last few months. He looked good against KXIP, then played a great knock against SRH but was unfortunate against CSK in the testing conditions. He shouldn’t look to try anything fancy and should focus on staying in the middle as long as possible.

Middle Order (Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi, Ashton Turner)

From what has transpired thus far in the first three games, RR clearly doesn’t seem to be interested in batting Steve Smith at number three. The former Australian skipper is too good a player to bat out of his regular position. Thus, they might drop him for the next game as he doesn’t really fit into the team combinations as of now.

Rather, they can continue playing Sanju Samson at three. If he is fit, Rahul Tripathi will find a place in the eleven and could bat at four after seeing what he has done in the last game. Perhaps, they can play Ashton Turner instead of Steve Smith either at five or six. It was quite evident that the team lacked a good finisher in all the three games thus far. Turner could be the ideal man the management is looking for.

All Rounders (Ben Stokes, Krishnappa Gowtham)

Ben Stokes is just about finding his feet in the tournament. In testing conditions in Chennai, he scored a good 26-ball 46. RR would hope that he gains some confidence from that knock. If his batting form can also translate into his bowling, the Royals will have a majority of the problems sorted. Stokes will have to work around his bowling more diligently.

Bowling all-rounder Krishanappa Gowtham has fared decently well in the tournament. It was surprising to see him bowl only two overs against CSK. RR should open the bowling with him as that is where he is the most effective. If Ashton can come in and deliver, that will reduce some pressure on him with regards to his batting.

Bowlers (Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Dhawal Kulkarni, Varun Aaron)

After his knock in the last game, Jofra Archer could possibly be slotted into the all-rounder’s category. But not as yet. He has been doing his duties brilliantly with the ball. With the added pace, he has been hurrying up the batsmen and is bowling economically. It is a huge bonus if he also chips in with a wicket or two.

RR will continue with Shreyas Gopal and Dhawal Kulkarni in their eleven. But, they will have to take a call on Jaydev Unadkat who hasn’t been doing well. They might axe him and rope Varun Aaron in his place. The Jharkhand pacer had a good domestic season and is consistently clocking up good speeds.

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