IPL 2019: Predicting Rajasthan Royals' starting eleven vs Kings XI Punjab
With the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League underway, Rajasthan Royals play their opening game against Kings XI Punjab in the pink city of Jaipur which is the home ground of the Royals.
The Royals had a decent season in 2018 as they ended up losing to Kolkata Knight Riders in the playoffs, that too without their skipper Steve Smith. They will look to take the positives from the previous season and make it to the finals in this edition of the league. They have a good bunch of players with them. They have excellent in form batsmen in the form of Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson, all-rounders in Krishnappa Gowtham and Ben Stokes and bowlers in Jaydev Unadkat and Oshane Thomas. They also have tons of experience in Ajinkya Rahane and Steve Smith.
Let's have a look at what the Royals could field in their opening game against the Kings.
Openers - Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Tripathi
Rahane had a good season with the Royals in 2018. He scored an impressive 370 runs and was the third highest scorer for Royals. He will look to continue playing his role as an anchor as that will also help him book his seat to England in June. His captaincy was also superb in the year which is why he got his team to the playoffs despite having a rather inexperienced squad.
The second opener for the team will be Rahul Tripathi. He was the next highest scorer after Rahane and had a healthy strike rate of 135+ which helped Rahane set himself at the top. These two batsmen complement each other well at the top and they make a dangerous opening pair. If one of them settles down, he can change the whole course of the game single-handedly.
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