IPL 2018: Match 21, Player Battles – Jasprit Bumrah vs Ajinkya Rahane and Sanju Samson

The Rajasthan Royals have a mixed start to their campaign and lots of work to be done to all both their batting and bowling departs to bounce back strong. DLS method in the game against DD and a Sanju Samson special against RCB helped RR to register wins before KKR and CSK thumped them down. The losses not only cost them points but also dent their NRR which is currently second worst among the eight teams. The will face Mumbai Indians at home who also have a similar start of the campaign.

A big win over RCB helped the defending champions opened their points tally after three straight narrow losses. While MI got a batting that could rescue them from any position, they are yet to fix their overseas pacers. Mustafizur Rahman bowled well in two games but went for runs in the remaining two. Mitchell McClenaghan came back well in the last match by dismissing Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers in the same over. The inconsistency of bowling line-up will put an extra responsibility on Jasprit Bumrah to excel.

The Royals are yet to finalize their opening combinations and have overseas stars who struggle to get going against spinners. MI have Krunal Pandya and Mayank Markande in their ranks who could cause troubles to RR batsmen. In the previous game, Royals struggled to play the knuckleballs from CSK pacers. Ajinkya Rahane was deceived by one such delivery while Sanju Samson failed to get elevation on his pull shot. Both the Indian players will have to tackle Bumrah and co to push the home team to a win.

Ajinkya Rahane vs Jasprit Bumrah:

Sanju Samson vs Jasprit Bumrah:

The pair will be crucial in negotiating the spinners and bringing out from best from their overseas stars. Both Rahane and Samson have historically done well against Mumbai Indians and are yet to be dismissed by MI’s spearhead Bumrah in the IPL. The top order bats collectively scored 54 runs in 43 balls against Bumrah with seven boundaries.

(Stats as on April 21, 2018)