3 player battles to watch out for in DC vs RR, Match 56 of IPL 2024 ft. Rishabh Pant vs Ravichandran Ashwin
Delhi Capitals take on Rajasthan Royals in the 56th match of IPL 2024 at the Feroz Shah Kotla (Arun Jaitley Stadium) in New Delhi on May 7, Tuesday.
DC are ranked in the sixth position of the league table at the time of writing and will only be able to push for qualification if they win all their remaining games.
RR, on the other hand, have had a fabulous season under captain Sanju Samson and are perched upon the second position of the table with 16 points to their name.
What is most interesting about RR this season is that they have lost just two games - one of which was against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their previous encounter.
In this listicle, we will take a look at the three key player battles to watch out for in this game:
#1. Jake Fraser-McGurk vs Trent Boult
Australian sensation Jake Fraser-McGurk will be put to the test on Tuesday when he comes up against the legendary Trent Boult, who hails from a small island not far from where the former does.
Boult is known to swing the ball back into right-handers inside the powerplay, and this will torment the youngster opening the innings for DC.
Although Fraser-McGurk has shown that he has an excellent base and solid head positioning, he will have to counter the immense swing that Boult is bound to get at the Kotla on Tuesday evening.
Since this is a battle between openers - with bat and ball - it will set the tone for how the evening will end.
#2. Rishabh Pant vs Ravichandran Ashwin
DC captain Rishabh Pant is bound to celebrate his return to the national team with a stellar knock in front of home fans here on Tuesday, and nothing will taste sweeter to him than a few shots against Ravichandran Ashwin.
Pant will want to bring out his reverse sweep and switch hit against the legendary spinner, but it has to be said that the latter is a champion bowler and is not likely to merely sit and applaud.
He will come up with ideas of his own and try to outfox the batter by trying to induce him into playing shots that he normally would not.
Pant will need to take calculated risks against former DC man Ashwin, who is at his best when pushed to the wall and set a challenge to decode.
#3. Axar Patel vs Sanju Samson
RR captain Sanju Samson, who was named alongside Pant as the wicketkeeper for India in their T20 World Cup 2024 squad to be held in the West Indies and the USA later this year, will want to take the battle to the DC bowlers in this game.
One of the biggest challenges standing in his way will come from left-arm spinner Axar Patel, who is bound to bring the ball back into him rather than turn it away.
Patel will also benefit from the sluggish yet skiddy nature of the Kotla surface and try to force Samson to play from the crease.
If Samson gets lured into playing false strokes on Tuesday, it will end up helping DC's case for pushing for qualification. He will have to take full responsibility as captain on Tuesday.