Hyderabad: Finalists from last season, the Rajasthan Royals (RR) will be keen to start their IPL 2023 title charge with a bang when they face Sunrisers Hyderabad in their season opener.
"Come next season, all of us will have to come back differently." These words by head coach Kumar Sangakkara following the last year's final will ring loud in RR's heads when they begin their IPL 2023 season against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Sunday.
Losing a final is never easy and the team felt the pain last year, having fallen one step short. But like any champion side, RR are eager to go that extra mile this season. And preparations began in December when the team’s think-tank got down to business at the IPL mini-auction in Kochi.
With some quality overseas acquisitions in Jason Holder, Adam Zampa, Joe Root and Donovan Ferreira and top domestic talents like KM Asif, Abdul Bazith, Akash Vashisht, Kunal Singh Rathore and Murugan Ashwin joining the ranks, RR are poised to stake a claim for the IPL title this season.
Although the wicket at SRH's home ground usually tends to be flat, they have aided slower bowlers as the matches have progressed. But a closer look at the numbers over the past 10 matches suggests that quality pace bowling has been effective as well with the quicks accounting for 67 wickets at an economy of 8.65.
Our run at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium might not be inspiring with RR losing out on all three occasions so far, but captain Saju Samson and his boys will be keen to shift the trend.
Jos Buttler fired on all cylinders last season and left everybody in awe of his batting prowess. He will hope for a similar performance this IPL and if things go as per plan, the show will begin in Hyderabad in what will be RR's 200th match in all competitions.
RR will bank on the Englishman's destructive batting in the Powerplay, a phase in which he accumulated 374 runs in 17 innings last season – the most by a batsman in the league.
Buttler, the Orange Cap winner in IPL 2022, was lethal in the death overs as well with the second-best strike rate in the league among batsmen who faced a minimum of 50 balls.
With the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson, among others, accompanying Buttler in the Rajasthan Royals’ explosive batting lineup, the duel against SRH's bowling battery, which features Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan and Umran Malik, promises to be an enticing one.
Yuzvendra Chahal could be a handful with his banter game outside pitch, but with the ball in his hand, he has always been a dangerous proposition for opposition batsmen. Chahal's tally of 27 wickets last season not only took RR to the final, but also helped him claim the Purple Cap.
But what stood out about Chahal is his ability to control the tempo of the game in the middle overs.
With the experienced Ravichandran Ashwin in the squad to complement Chahal, RR's spin duo will eye another top show this season.
Moreover, with the Impact Player rule kicking in this season, the team management will look to exploit the option well depending on the match situation.
There are some players in RR who are on the verge of achieving milestones. Yashasvi Jaiswal needs 47 more runs to reach 1000 runs in T20s and Chahal needs 1 wicket to complete 300 wickets in T20s. He will be the first Indian to reach the milestone in the format.
Murugan Ashwin needs six more wickets to complete 100 T20 wickets and Jason Holder needs another wicket to reach 200 T20 wickets. (UNI)
