11:46 AM
Editor
Shane Warne's last IPL match at home won't be an easy one. Royal Challengers Bangalore will not concede an inch to the legendary spinner, when they take on Rajasthan Royals at Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Wednesday. The pitch fiasco here has complicated matters and has taken away the advantage a home team is expected to enjoy. Royals have mastered a pitch with low bounce and now, they have been asked to play on one which is quite different. If Monday's match against Chennai Super Kings is an indicator, the Royals are not comfortable on this strip and clearly, despite playing at home, will start as the underdogs.
Performance, however, is the key factor. One of these two teams is expected to complete the play-offs lineup and thus, this game assumes significance. At this stage, Royals are slightly behind and some desperate measures would be required. Deepak Chahar has been asked to join the team camp and there is a slim chance that he would play.
The difference between the two teams in most conspicuous in one man, a Calypso king, who has been at his destructive best. Good bounce is what Chris Gayle enjoys and the new SMS track might give him just that. The Caribbean plunderer joined the IPL party late and immediately added a fizz to the RCB spirits that even the best champagne could not. Gayle has been hammering sixes as if he was throwing pebbles into the sea. On Wednesday, expect him to do the same, and then smile gleefully.
Gayle is not the only one Royals need to be wary of. Virat Kohli continues to make a strong statement of his talent. Kohli and Gayle seem to be quite comfortable in each other's company, and the Royals would have to find a way of unsettling this partnership early. Tillakeratne Dilshan of course, would not be there.
The home team has its own bag of arsenal, but some of them have failed to fire. Shane Watson can be as destructive as Gayle, but seems to have left his favourite bat behind in Bangladesh. This Watson looks a shadow of the one who recently blasted 185 off 96 balls and time is running out for the Royals. If Watson has to repeat his Dhaka act, Wednesday is the perfect day for it.
Then there is Ashok Menaria, the young lad, who has looked good. However, he has been stuck up in the 20s. For the Royals, it all comes down to Ross Taylor. The New Zealander, a perfect finisher according to Warne, will be up against his former franchise. Many of the players in this IPL have produced a motivated performance against their former franchise and now, Taylor gets his chance. With the Bangalore tie between the two teams washed out, first Taylor and Rahul Dravid would face their former franchise for the first time.
Warne would once again be the bowler to watch out for in the Royals ranks. He has been a handful despite his advancing age and the apparent lack of practice. Let us hope his vision doesn't get blurred by emotions on Wednesday night.
Performance, however, is the key factor. One of these two teams is expected to complete the play-offs lineup and thus, this game assumes significance. At this stage, Royals are slightly behind and some desperate measures would be required. Deepak Chahar has been asked to join the team camp and there is a slim chance that he would play.
The difference between the two teams in most conspicuous in one man, a Calypso king, who has been at his destructive best. Good bounce is what Chris Gayle enjoys and the new SMS track might give him just that. The Caribbean plunderer joined the IPL party late and immediately added a fizz to the RCB spirits that even the best champagne could not. Gayle has been hammering sixes as if he was throwing pebbles into the sea. On Wednesday, expect him to do the same, and then smile gleefully.
Gayle is not the only one Royals need to be wary of. Virat Kohli continues to make a strong statement of his talent. Kohli and Gayle seem to be quite comfortable in each other's company, and the Royals would have to find a way of unsettling this partnership early. Tillakeratne Dilshan of course, would not be there.
The home team has its own bag of arsenal, but some of them have failed to fire. Shane Watson can be as destructive as Gayle, but seems to have left his favourite bat behind in Bangladesh. This Watson looks a shadow of the one who recently blasted 185 off 96 balls and time is running out for the Royals. If Watson has to repeat his Dhaka act, Wednesday is the perfect day for it.
Then there is Ashok Menaria, the young lad, who has looked good. However, he has been stuck up in the 20s. For the Royals, it all comes down to Ross Taylor. The New Zealander, a perfect finisher according to Warne, will be up against his former franchise. Many of the players in this IPL have produced a motivated performance against their former franchise and now, Taylor gets his chance. With the Bangalore tie between the two teams washed out, first Taylor and Rahul Dravid would face their former franchise for the first time.
Warne would once again be the bowler to watch out for in the Royals ranks. He has been a handful despite his advancing age and the apparent lack of practice. Let us hope his vision doesn't get blurred by emotions on Wednesday night.
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