5 matches played. 5 matches won. Clearly, Rajasthan Royals are the team of this year’s IPL. They look unstoppable and have perhaps the two best players in the IPL this season, Shane Watson and Steve Smith. There is a bit of healthy competition between the two friends as well, to see who does better in the IPL this season.
As Shane Watson, the captain of the Rajasthan Royals says, “It is great to be able to come and take over with the team in such a good place. Steven Smith does an incredible job as a leader. He is tactically incredibly good. He did a fantastic job in the first four games and I am very lucky to be able to have him in and around the squad.”
The win against Chennai Super Kings last week has put beyond doubt the fact that under coach Paddy Upton, team mentor Rahul Dravid and captain Shane Watson, the Rajasthan Royals have something special going on.
They have a superb top order with Watson, Smith and India’s batting star, Ajinkya Rahane. All three look to be in the form of their lives. The bowling has been adequate as well, with James Faulkner leading a fast bowling attack that includes Chris Morris and the New Zealand star, Tim Southee.
Pravin Tambe, the 43-year old finger spinner is a valuable member of the side as well, proving that age is just a number. Young players such as Dhaval Kulkarni have been good as well.
Kings XI Punjab are a good side too, and are managed well by coach Sanjay Bangar, who is in contention for to be the head coach of the Indian team when the position becomes available later this year. Bangar said however that he was disappointed with his side’s batting performance so far: “Our batting has been a letdown so far in the tournament. The top batsmen are just not getting enough runs. That has been putting the team in a tight spot.”
Kings XI Punjab’s overseas stars such as Glenn Maxwell and David Miller are yet to perform in this year’s IPL despite coming with huge reputations. Captain George Bailey has been the only consistent batsman for them this year. Both Miller and Maxwell seem to be suffering from an extended World Cup hangover.
Mitchell Johnson Leads the Kings XI attack and he has been below par this IPL, down on both pace and form. Young bowlers such as Sandeep Sharma and Anureet Singh have been doing most of the work in the bowling department, with Sandeep Singh emerging as one of the leading wicket takers of the tournament.
Kings XI Punjab will be hoping for more from veteran batsman Virender Sehwag, who clearly appears to be at the dead end of his illustrious career, with no hopes whatsoever of making it back to the Indian team. He has Indian opening batsman M Vijay for company, who will want to prove that he is as good a T20 batsman as he is at Test cricket.
Watch Kings XI Punjab take on Rajasthan Royals tonight at 8:00 PM live on Sony Six!
