JAIPUR, Apr 13: Hosts Rajasthan Royals will look to regroup and get back to winning ways after their unexpected loss to lowly Pune Warriors, when they take on Kings XI Punjab in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match here tomorrow.
Aiding Rajasthan in their quest will be the home crowd and the track at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium.
But skipper Rahul Dravid and his men will first have to put the loss to Pune behind.
The team selection will surely be a brainstorming exercise for the hosts because of the fitness of the likes of Shane Watson, Shaun Tait and Rahul Shukla and the resurfacing of the ‘slap gate’ controversy, which might have affected medium pacer S Sreesanth, who tweeted 44 times in a two-hour span yesterday.
This could have a bearing on the selection of the playing XI.
Rajasthan Royals had begun the tournament with back-to-back convincing wins but were pegged back a bit after their humiliating loss to Pune, who had broken their eleven-match losing streak with a seven-wicket victory.
Now, the hosts would be more than happy to be back on the home turf.
Their batting looks good with Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Dravid in good touch and high on confidence.
Despite being the oldest Indian player in IPL-6, Dravid has scored two fifties and has looked as solid as ever, often playing some uncharacteristic adventurous strokes.
Rahane too has a good run of scores — 30, 36 and 38 — and lower-down Brad Hodge has accelerated the innings with a mix of caution and aggression.
Watson’s addition has certainly strengthened the side but the Australian has played only one match and lasted just ten balls for his unconvincing five runs.
He is due for a big one and who knows that might come tomorrow if he is declared fit to play. (PTI)
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