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Today at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium in Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals faced the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 50th game of the Indian Premier League.
Rajasthan Royals were bowling first and were able to start well as they kept a tight line to the aggressive SRH openers. Despite a slow start, great fifties from Nitish Kumar Reddy and Travis Head along with a cameo from Heinrich Klaasen helped the side reach a total of 201/3 in their 20 overs.
In response, Bhuvneshwar Kumar brought his swing to take two early wickets for his side. But after that it was a Jaiswal-Parag show as the duo stitched a 134-run partnership and the bowlers felt helpless. Cummins and Natarajan took a wicket apiece to bring their side back into the game. A few more wickets saw the hosts make a stunning comeback and win the game by one run today.
Here are the three changes Rajasthan Royals should make ahead of their next game:
3. Improve fielding
Fielding is one of the issues that has haunted the Rajasthan Royals before as well. The Hyderabad-based franchise dropped two catches at crucial junctures of the game today also and the match would have swung in their direction if they had held on to those catches.
One of the catches was dropped by the Riyan Parag and it was the crucial catch of Travis Head. The batter was able to score a valuable fifty today and if Parag would have held onto that catch, the result of the match would have been fairly different. So that is a trick that Sanju Samson and the team management might have missed out on during this game
2. Utilise Powell's bowling during middle overs
When Rajasthan Royals bought Rovman Powell during the auctions in Dubai, it was believed that he would play the role of the all-rounder in the team. However, skipper Sanju Samson has opted against using Powell's bowling this season and has stuck to his five main bowlers.
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The West Indies skipper is a handy all-rounder and could have been used today when the wickets were not falling at all. His use of variations could have scalped wickets for his side during crucial stages of the game as well.
1. Drop Ravichandran Ashwin for Tanush Kotian
It is fair to say that it has been a less than impressive season for Ravichandran Ashwin during the current edition of the Indian Premier League. His poor form has also resulted in him not getting selected for the upcoming T20 World Cup in West Indies and United States of America.
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It might be time that the veteran spinner might be dropped from the team to bring some young blood into the playing XI. Tanush Kotian played a solitary game this season and was impressive in that match as well. He might be handed another opportunity given his great prowess in domestic cricket this year
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