IPL 2018: Match 28, Player Battles – Ajinkya Rahane vs Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Sandeep Sharma

Ajinkya Rahane led Rajasthan Royals might not have started how they wanted as they won only three of the six matches they played so far. Royals got a week off after winning the nail-biter against the defending champions. They will look to come out strong with their batsmen scoring consistently and a bowling line-up which got sorted with the inclusion of Jofra Archer. The young pacer showed great promise in rattling big hitters at the death overs in his debut game.

However, going ahead in the tournament, the RR batting have to succeed for better results. Royals have tried out three different opening combinations in their last three matches with Ajinkya Rahane on one end. Their persistence with D’Arcy Short at the top lasted four matches before opening with Heinrich Klaasen. They finally decided to open with the last season’s sensation Rahul Tripathi, who was made to bat in the middle-order in the first five matches.

Ajinkya Rahane vs Bhuvneshwar Kumar:

While the overseas players have their weak points, their skipper will have to deliver for the team’s cause. Rahane didn’t have consistent scores yet in this tournament like in the previous seasons but brought a change to his approach. It will be interesting to see how he will fare against the strong Sunrisers Hyderabad‘s bowling attack. Individually, Rahane struggled to get going against SRH as he averages only 16 against them in the league.

The root cause for Rahane’s struggles against SRH is the presence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar who often troubled the RR captain. Bhuvi dismissed Rahane on six occasions in the IPL including four times on a duck. Rahane scored 71 runs in 78 balls against Bhuvi with nearly 55% of them being dot balls. Adding to his misery, Rahane might get to face Sandeep Sharma as well. Rahane got out twice in 46 balls to Sandeep and scored 35 runs at a poor S/R of 76.09.

Ajinkya Rahane vs Sandeep Sharma:

(Stats as on April 28, 2018)