The Rajasthan Royals will play their second game of the third edition of
the Indian Premier League against the Delhi Daredevils. Both the sides
have played one game each in the tournament so far. The match will be played at
the Motera in Ahmedabad for the first time in the history of the IPL as they look
to join the IPL bandwagon.
The Delhi Daredevils are a batting powerhouse, and will suffer from a similar
problem as the Deccan Chargers who have had problems with choosing their four
foreign players. How much ever one talks about batting after all, it will be
imperative for the sides to go in with some experience in the bowling line-up
and that is where the teams will look to get in two of the four foreigners.
Click Here to Watch Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Daredevils LiveThe same holds true for the Delhi Daredevils as well, as they will look at
least Dirk Nannes making it to the playing eleven; but given that Daniel Vettori will not be available in the side till the end of this month, the
good news is that the thinking process will reduce drastically. Amit Mishra
should make it to the side, and as should the likes of Ashish Nehra and Pradeep
Sangwan, both of whom are left-handed pace bowlers.
Apart from these bowlers, the batting will revolve around the presence of Sehwag,
Gambhir and one may see Tillakaratne Dilshan and AB de Villiers walking
into the team. This will mean that there is one other spot for the taking, which
could go to a bowler and not David Warner, simply because his batting will bring
about a sense of oneness to the side.
For the Royals, Shane Warne will need to conjure up some magic and get the
team to gel well. Graeme Smith should be fit to open the innings, and while
the absence of Ravindra Jadeja - who was banned by the IPL for blackmailing
the Royals into another contract - will be replaced by Johan Botha. The Morne
Morkels of the world will be necessary, but the same problem will repeat itself
- one cannot have more than four foreigners and with Shane Warne leading the
side, it will be difficult to choose the fourth guy.
Amongst the Indians, the likes of Kamran Khan and Siddharth Triwedi will do
well to play to their strength as they had in the first edition of the tournament.
Whether Shane Warne will be able to bring about a similar magic from
them as he had in the first IPL is a question-mark.
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