IPL 2018 Preview: Clock ticking on Rajasthan Royals as Kings XI Punjab come calling once again

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  • Royals need to win all their remaining matches. Image - RR/Twitter.

    Less than 48 hours after Kings XI Punjab beat Rajasthan Royals by six wickets at Indore in the IPL, the two teams will meet once again on Tuesday at the Sawai Mansingh stadium in Jaipur.

    Languishing at the bottom of the table, the Royals have entered the ‘deathzone’ where the next defeat will be the final nail in the coffin when it comes to their chances of making the playoffs.

    Kings XI, on the other hand, have returned to winning ways after two successive defeats against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians.

    REVENGE THE MINIMUM FOR ROYALS

    With nothing less than a victory enough for Ajinkya Rahane’s men on Tuesday, they will need to avenge their loss on Sunday at any cost. Ever since their stunning win over Mumbai Indians, the Royals have slumped to three defeats on the bounce in an alarming slide.

    They have previously banked on their formidable record at fortress Jaipur where they have won 24 out of their 33 games before this season. This year, they have won two and lost as many on their home ground. The Royals will need to reclaim their fortress if they are to mount a playoff challenge since three of their remaining five games are in Jaipur.

    PLAYERS IN-FOCUS

    KL Rahul is in the form of his life and played a remarkable innings of 84 (54) to leads Kings XI to victory on Sunday. His partnership with Chris Gayle has done the bulk of the scoring for Ravichandran Ashwin’s men but such has been Rahul’s showing that he has even started to overshadow the explosive Jamaican.

    Rahul is in the middle of a purple patch. Image - IPL/Twitter.

    Rahul is in the middle of a purple patch. Image – IPL/Twitter.

    He will be the key once again on Tuesday for a Kings XI batting line-up which has been exposed at times when the openers have failed on the rare occasions.

    For Rajasthan, Rahane needs to start leading from the front with the bat, given his captaincy is starting to come under the microscope. The skipper started the campaign in decent knick but has since gone off the boil and his struggles have meant that the Royals have been deprived of a good start in most of their defeats.

    LIKELY LINE-UPS

    Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Heinrich Klaasen, Jos Buttler (wk), Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Rahul Tripathi, K Gowtham, Jofra Archer, K Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat.

    Kings XI Punjab: KL Rahul (wk), Chris Gayle, Karun Nair, Mayank Agarwal, Axar Patel, Marcus Stoinis, Manoj Tiwary, Ravichandran Ashwin (c), Ankit Rajpoot, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Andrew Tye.

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