Full coverage: Indian Premier League 2015
Come IPL 8, both team have landed in the city with contrasting results the previous night, and couple of nights before that too. So while the Royals, with two wins from two matches, can take things a little easy in their match against Mumbai Indians at the Motera on Tuesday evening, the visitors, with two defeats in two games, will have to sort many things out before they can breathe easy.
It is too early in the competition to drive home a point but the Royals seem to have, more or less, found their men to do the job in different situations. Team mentor Rahul Dravid during a press meet before the start of the tournament said that like every season, the Royals will spring a young surprise this year too. Deepak Hooda, the right-arm off-break bowling all-rounder from Baroda is showing the right skills to qualify for Dravid's surprise package of the season.
Steve Smith and James Faulkner seem to have just carried on from where they left during the World Cup. Tim Southee and Chris Morris are going for few more than expected but they are also picking wickets. More importantly, the unknown Indians are playing their part to perfection whether it is playing that cameo or bowling that one tight over or stopping that extra run on the outfield. The superb teamwork of Southee and Karun Nair to get rid of Geroge Bailey the other night is an excellent example of that little bit of extra that everyone is giving for the team's cause.
But for Mumbai, they are yet to find the right combination. In the first match the bowling let the batting down and in the second match it was just the opposite. With the likes of Lasith Mainga, Vinay Kumar, Corey Anderson, Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha, the bowling looks formidable. But yet they're far from finding the right options.
The main worry, however, is the top order that is yet to fire. MI appear to be banking heavily on their skipper Rohit Sharma to score big. The likes of Aaron Finch and Aditya Tare don't inspire confidence. Ambati Rayudu, too, seems to have hit a bad patch. Despite a poor start to the season, MI players seemed to be in good spirit enjoying a game of American football under lights.
Someone jokingly said that it takes five defeats at the start for the richest team in the league to gather steam. The fans will hope that it remains a joke only.
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