Rajasthan Royals will once again return to their original home at Sawai Mansingh Stadium (SMS) in Jaipur as they host Delhi Daredevils in their second IPL match on Wednesday (18:30).
Returning after a two-year suspension from the competition, the Royals have not played at their ‘home’ ground since 2013.
Both sides come into the game on the back of defeats in their opening matches and will be keen to get their first points on the board for 2018.
TALKING POINTS
Having been thrashed by Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday, the Royals will take comfort from their excellent record at ‘fortress SMS’ where they have won a staggering 24 of their 33 IPL matches at a win-rate of 72.73.
Having had to cope with the loss of Steve Smith – the only player they retained heading into the season – Royals will want a more significant contribution from their overseas stars like D’Arcy Short, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler who were all abject in defeat to Hyderabad.
On the other hand, Delhi Daredevils first outing under skipper Gautam Gambhir did not go to plan as KL Rahul’s record fifty steered Kings XI Punjab to victory. This will be their second successive match on the road but they will be bolstered by the arrival of Liam Plunkett as a late replacement for the injured Kagiso Rabada.
PLAYERS IN FOCUS
In their loss to Hyderabad, the Royals did not include star-man Jofra Archer in the line-up which could have something to do with the injury he suffered in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). They will be hoping that the West Indies-born man can recover in time for the clash as he provides a greater degree of balance to the squad.
The most expensive IPL signing this year in Ben Stokes failed to deliver the goods in their campaign opener and he will be keen to prove his worth to the franchise on Wednesday.
For the Daredevils, Blackcaps opener Colin Munro was dismissed cheaply in the loss to Kings XI but the left-hander remains one of the most dangerous batsmen in the T20 format. If he gets going at the top for Delhi, it might not matter how far the boundary ropes are placed at the SMS stadium.
LIKELY LINE-UPS
Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane (C), D’Arcy Short, Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Rahul Tripathi, Jos Buttler (Wk), K Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat.
Delhi Daredevils: Colin Munro, Gautam Gambhir (C), Shreyas Iyer, Vijay Shankar, Rishab Pant (Wk), Rahul Tewatia, Daniel Christian, Chris Morris, Amit Mishra, Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami.
