Rajasthan Royals know they are up against it. 5 matches played, 4 lost is not a record to be proud of. But at least they are doing better than RCB, and won’t need to worry about being the bottom placed side in this IPL 2019. That dubious honor belongs to RCB and RCB alone – 6 played, 6 lost!
What’s all the more alarming is the fact that Rajasthan Royals are going to lose their best players – Ben Stokes, Joss Butler and Steven Smith in another 2 weeks as they are off to join their respective national teams for the World Cup.
So they have a very small window of opportunity and if they miss that one, this season is as good as over for them. But then, what has Ben Stokes done to justify his high value?
Nothing. He has made only 76 runs in five innings with the bat and taken only four wickets at an economy rate of 10.84 with the ball. Even someone like Rahul Tripathi, a mediocre player in domestic cricket, has made more runs than him batting at a lower position.
Perhaps RCB has to think differently and replace their non performing stars. Why not bring in young Ashton Turner for Ben Stokes? How about bringing in another young player Mahipal Lomror?
As for Chennai Super Kings, they are on top of the IPL 2019 tables and haven’t even had to sweat for it. This team is just exceptional and led by one of India’s greatest cricketers – MS Dhoni. It would be just magical if they go on to win another IPL.
It is also amazing how CSK do well despite so many of their star players not performing. Shane Watson looks completely out of it, and this could be his last year in the IPL. Ambati Rayudu hasn’t done much either. DJ Bravo has looked out of sorts. Still CSK march on!
The Teams
Rajasthan Royals: 1 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Steven Smith, 4 Prashant Chopra, 5 Ben Stokes/Ashton Turner, 6 Mahipal Lomror, 7 Shreyas Gopal, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Varun Aaron/K Gowtham, 10 S Midhun, 11 Dhawal Kulkarni
Chennai Super Kings: 1 Shane Watson, 2 Faf du Plessis, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Scott Kuggeleijn, 11 Imran Tahir
Prediction: Quick and easy win for CSK.
