IPL 2019: Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore Face Off In Jaipur To End Losing Streak

Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore, with three consecutive defeats to their name, will look to end their losing streak when they face off in the 14th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur, on Tuesday. While Rajasthan Royals (RR) started their IPL 2019 campaign with "mankading" controversy to lose to Kings XI Punjab, Virat Kohli-led RCB were unfortunate to take on defending champions Chennai Super Kings on a poor wicket in the season opener. Later, inaugural edition champions Rajasthan Royals suffered defeats to SunRisers Hyderabad and CSK. RCB, who have never won IPL, were thrashed by SRH and Mumbai Indians in last two matches.

RR have failed to tighten the screws when it mattered the most. In Chennai on Sunday, Royals had CSK reeling at 27 for three before skipper MS Dhoni smashed an unbeaten 75 off 46 balls to bail the hosts out of trouble and eventually win the game by eight runs.

"We win as a team and we lose as a team. If we win the smaller moments in T20s we will do well. We have played well in the last three games and hopefully with some luck we'll be able to turn it around," said Rajasthan Royals skipper Ajinkya Rahane after the loss.

RR, who boast of star players such as Steve Smith and Ben Stokes, have failed to live up to the expectations.

In the first match against KXIP, their bowlers allowed the visitors to some vital runs in death overs and later the batsmen disappointed after being put on victory course by Rahane and Jos Buttler.

The likes of Sanju Samson, who had hit first ton of this IPL, Buttler and Rahane, have been good. Rahul Tripathi also looked impressive during his 39 against CSK but Smith and Stokes are yet to set the tournament on fire.

The hosts face an equally hungry outfit in RCB, who too are looking to redeem themselves. Their skipper Virat Kohli had conceded that the defeat against SRH on Sunday afternoon was "one of their worst losses".

"We just need our players to put up a better challenge up front. There are still 11 games to go. The pitch will be nice in Jaipur against the Royals. We need to bring our A-game, like we did against Mumbai and play with that kind of intensity," said Kohli after RCB's third loss in a row.

The visitors certainly have the resources in their ranks to beat Royals. RCB have a destructive batting order comprising Kohli, AB de Villiers, Parthiv Patel, Moeen Ali and Shimron Hetmyer, yet their batting failed miserably in two out of the three games.

Both teams will also have to deal with the soaring heat in the Pink City with temperatures nearing 40 degrees Celsius.

Squads:

Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Ashton Turner, Ish Sodhi, Oshane Thomas, Liam Livingstone, Sanju Samson, Shubham Ranjane, Stuart Binny, Shreyas Gopal, Sudhesan Midhun, Jaydev Unadkat, Prashant Chopra, Mahipal Lomror, Aryaman Birla, Riyan Parag, Dhawal Kulkarni, Krishnappa Gowtham, Varun Aaron, Shashank Singh, Manan Vohra, Rahul Tripathi.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli (capt), Parthiv Patel, Moeen Ali, AB de Villiers, Shimron Hetmyer, Shivam Dube, Colin de Grandhomme, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Devdutt Padikkal, Himmat Singh, Milind Kumar, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Heinrich Klaasen, Pawan Negi, Washington Sundar, Akshdeep Nath, Prayas Barman, Kulwant Khejroliya, Tim Southee.

The match starts 8 pm IST.

(With PTI inputs)

Topics mentioned in this article

Rajasthan Royals Royal Challengers Bangalore IPL 2019 Cricket Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, Match 14 Ajinkya Rahane Virat Kohli