Since 2023, the Rajasthan Royals (RR) have occasionally called Guwahati home, but they haven’t had much to celebrate. Two of RR’s three games here have ended in losses, and the fourth was a washout. Riyan Parag, a native of the city, will skipper RR on Wednesday, marking a significant milestone for both the player and his home state of Assam.
However, after RR almost let up the biggest IPL total ever against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Parag has a lot to think about.
Although youngster Shubham Dubey was impressive and the retained trio of Sanju Samson, Dhruv Jurel, and Shimron Hetmyer provided batting power on a flat pitch, Parag was left with little options when the bowlers leaked runs.
Despite trying Nitish Rana’s occasional offspin for one over, he did not bowl, despite being classified as an all-rounder and wanting to think of himself as one. A true all-rounder who could have been RR’s fifth or sixth bowler without compromising their batting was lost.
On good days, this isn’t a problem, and with a similar team balance, RR has made it to the playoffs twice in the last three seasons. However, on bad days, it can leave them with nowhere to go. The solution for bowlers seeking to rebuild confidence could be a shuffle, such as locating a spot for Wanindu Hasaranga or Parag to bowl by himself.
There are lots of versatile all-rounders on the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the reigning champions. The loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their season opener won’t change their 2024 strategy, but KKR’s old middle and lower-middle order—which included Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, and Ramandeep Singh—contributed very little as they had a poor batting finish.
This area won’t always be a problem for KKR, like RR’s bowlers against SRH, but two straight games might put them in early difficulty, especially because the Mumbai Indians will be waiting for them at the Wankhede next.
The focus of Wednesday’s match will be on two teams trying to resolve their issues and earn their first points.
New allegiances: Nitish Rana
After being promoted to vice-captain, Nitish Rana became one of KKR’s senior players and scored 2199 runs for the team between 2018 and 2024. He was signed by RR for INR 4.20 crore and was not one of the six players kept by the team following the championship from the previous season.
Will Hasaranga be included in the team news and probable XIIs?
After undergoing surgery on his finger, Samson is expected to return to his role as an impact player for RR. They might consider adding Akash Madhwal for his yorker-bowling skills, but they are unlikely to bench Jofra Archer despite his 0 for 76 against SRH, the worst IPL records ever. Maheesh Theekshana could be replaced by Hasaranga because he often bowlers in the powerplay and KKR opens with spin-basher Sunil Narine.
Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag (capt.), Nitish Rana, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana/Wanindu Hasaranga, Sandeep Sharma, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Tushar Deshpande/Akash Madhwal, and Jofra Archer are the Rajasthan Royals.
After Saturday’s defeat, KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane stated that he had faith in his fast-bowling team despite their relative inexperience. Anrich Nortje might replace Spencer Johnson, but they’ll probably remain the same if they believe that tempo and short balls will have a greater influence than swing.
Quinton de Kock (wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Venkatesh Iyer, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Spencer Johnson/Anrich Nortje, Varun Chakravarthy, and Vaibhav Arora are the Kolkata Knight Riders’ starting lineup.
The crucial query
Not too long ago, Hasaranga was ranked as the top T20I bowler in the world by the ICC, but he is currently ranked fourth. Since he has no injuries, he was probably benched against SRH for tactical reasons. Should RR try to get Hasaranga involved?
Quinton de Kock and Dhruv Jurel are in the spotlight.
Despite the abundance of options for the position, Dhruv Jurel’s 35-ball 70 against SRH demonstrated why RR trusted him with a retention and why he is currently India’s backup T20I wicketkeeper. His position at No. 5 is crucial because RR has struggled this season to close the gap between their top-order and lower-order batters.
His strike rate of 162.56 indicates that he has excellent T20 figures against pace, but at this point in his career, he has a tendency to score more slowly against spin, scoring 123.76. How can he handle the twin threats of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine? He scored three runs off seven deliveries against the legspinner against SRH before falling to Adam Zampa.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz was the top scorer at the T20 World Cup last year, was selected as the first player in the ICC’s ODI team of the year, and was an excellent stand-in for Phil Salt throughout KKR’s successful playoff and championship run. Quinton de Kock was chosen by KKR as their first-choice wicketkeeper-opener this season in spite of this.
Given that he hasn’t enjoyed himself since his international retirement, it’s time for de Kock to take advantage of the occasion. He only scored 159 runs in 10 innings at the SA20, and his IPL 2024 average of 22.72 in 11 games was his second-worst ever. KKR would want some consistency from one end because De Kock has a propensity to be inconsistent, and Narine is another inconsistent opener at the other end.
Important statistics
Archer’s form has been lacking going into the 2025 Indian Premier League. He doesn’t get wickets when he keeps quiet. He is quite costly when he gets the wickets. Archer had an economy rate of 9.26 and an average of 34.75 in the recently concluded 2024–25 season.
The side batting first has won twice and lost once in IPL games played at Barsapara Stadium, where the average first-inning total is 180.
When Parag led RR against SRH, he became the fourth-youngest captain in the IPL at the age of 23 years and 133 days. The three players above him on the list are Suresh Raina (23y 112d), Steven Smith (22y 344d), and Virat Kohli (22y 187d).
In the past, both Archer (9 off 13) and Fazalhaq Farooqi (3 off 8 with 1 dismissal) have kept Narine quiet, despite her strike-rate of 191.30 against Sandeep Sharma (44 runs in 23 balls, one dismissal).
With Russell hitting at just 115.63 and averaging just 9.25 against googlies in the IPL (since 2022), ESPNcricinfo’s stats makes Hasaranga a strong choice for RR. However, he averages 41.50 and crunches legbreaks at 153.70.
Conditions and pitch
Wednesday seems to be dry, but the last time an RR vs. KKR match was planned in Guwahati, it was a washout. With three IPL runs in the 190s, the Barsapara Stadium has shown to be a great place to bat. The first IPL total of 200 or more might be seen in Guwahati on Wednesday after India once achieved 237 for 3 here and South Africa responded with 221 for 3.
The next three games
On Sunday, March 30, RR will travel to Guwahati to play Chennai Super Kings (CSK). On April 5, they will go to Mullanpur to play Punjab Kings (PBKS), and on April 9, they will travel to Ahmedabad to play Gujarat Titans (GT).
After playing MI in Mumbai on March 31, KKR will play SRH at home on April 3 and the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at home on April 6.
Sayings
“It has been an adventure. When I was seventeen, I was here. Being captain is a secondary concern, but one of the most significant things is the management’s faith in me. The fact that they have enough faith in me to guide the squad and make my own judgments is one of the biggest affirmations I receive as a player.
Regarding his leadership position at RR, Riyan Parag
India
