IPL 2021: Kevin Pietersen calls for ‘trading inside bubbles’ to help a struggling Rajasthan Royals (RR)

Kevin Pietersen, the former England cricketer, has called for ‘trading inside team bubbles’ to help teams like Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team, led by Sanju Samson, is currently languishing at the bottom of the points table with a net run rate of -1.011. On Thursday, the Royals lost to the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 10 wickets.

Virat Kohli’s RCB chased the target of 178 with as many as 21 balls to spare. Devdutt Padikkal and the Challengers’ skipper stitched together an unbeaten partnership of 181 runs off a mere 99 balls. Even before the tournament began, RR started facing troubles. England cricketer Jofra Archer, their premier pacer, isn’t a part of the league after he sustained a hand injury.

Archer was the MVP in the 2020 IPL. Ben Stokes developed a finger injury and has been ruled out of the T20 league. In another telling blow, Liam Livingstone also pulled out of the tournament, citing, ‘bubble fatigue’. Bearing in mind that the Royals’ lost quite a few of their players, Pietersen reckoned that ‘trading’ can help the team recover to some extent.

Kevin Pietersen opines

He took to Twitter and wrote, “Do you think trading inside team bubbles should be allowed this @IPL season? A team like RR desperately need overseas players.”

Do you think trading inside team bubbles should be allowed this @IPL season?
A team like RR desperately need overseas players.

— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) April 22, 2021

I am sure we will come back well: Sanju Samson

After the defeat against RCB at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, Sanju Samson was a tad dejected but also vowed to go back to the drawing board and then make a strong comeback.

“They batted really well. We did well to get that score on the board after the early wickets. We need to go back and do some homework. We need to be honest with ourselves and come back better,” Samson was quoted as saying after the match.

“Need time to look into what went wrong and understand, I am sure we will come back well. This game… It puts you down but you need to find a way and come out better,” he added.

The Royals are next scheduled to lock horns with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Saturday, April 24 in Mumbai itself.