Rajasthan look to revive fortunes against Kochi (Preview)

It is not all over for Rajasthan yet, there is still a glimmer of hope even though other results have to go according to scheme. By virtue of the shared points that came in the rained-off tie, the Shane Warne led side are still in with a mathematical chance. Kochi however are down and out of the tile hunt, they can try for a consolation win.

The big picture is that three slots for the play-offs are occupied by Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai; that leaves one more spot open in the next stage and it is a three-horse race between Kolkata, Rajasthan and Punjab. The Shahrukh Khan owned team however, are the favorites as they require only one win out of two matches. Rajasthan can also sneak in, if they win both their matches and Kolkata lose both the encounters, one of which is against Mumbai. The other team in the fray, Punjab have to win three matches in succession to overtake the Jaipur based team. So, all is not lost for Rajasthan, Warne can still afford a smile.

All permutations and calculations apart, Rajasthan have been on a decline over the past two weeks or so, during which they lost three games in a row. By virtue of pure luck, an opportunity has come their way but they would have to grab it with both hands. They just can’t afford any slip-up at any stage. Their have to lift their game in all the departments and overcome Kochi with a big margin.

Rajasthan’s job won’t be easier as the Kochi team have the reputation of being the giant-killers. Though, their bowling hasn’t done a lot, the batting led by captain Mahela Jayawardene can spring a surprise or two. The Sri-Lankan would also try to make a mark in his last match in IPL-4 as he is leaving for national duty.

KOCHI

Players who can make impact…

Brendon McCullum…..The way Gayle hurricane has been blowing in the recent past, the big hitting New Zealand batsman should be an ideal opener for Kochi. He can score very briskly and if he survives for some overs his team can hope for a big total on the board.

Parthiv Patel….He may be a forgotten name in the national cricketing circles but he still is an effective cricketer who always gives more than a 100 percent. His adds firepower to the wobbly Kochi batting and his keeping has been top drawer during the whole tournament.

SQUAD

B McCullum, Balachandra Akhil, Brad Hodge, Chandan Madan, Deepak Chougule, Gnaneswara Rao, John Hastings, Kedar Jadhav, M Jayawardene (c), Michael Klinger, Muttiah Muralitharan, Owais Shah, P Parameswaran, Parthiv Patel (wk), Raiphi Gomez, Ramesh Powar, Ravindra Jadeja, RP Singh, S Sreesanth, Steve O'Keefe, Steven Smith, Sushant Marathe, Tanmay Srivastava, Thissara Perera, Vinay Kumar, VVS Laxman, Yashpal Singh.

RAJASTHAN

Players who can make impact…

Johan Botha…The gutsy all-rounder has done it for the home team more than once this season. He bats, bowls and is a fantastic fielder. His success at top of the order would be vital for Rajasthan.

Shane Watson….The burly all-rounder hasn’t reproduced his form in IPL-4 and although, his bowling has been all right, the batting hasn’t come good on a consistent basis. With the fragile Rajasthan batting depending on him, the Aussie would have to produce a good innings to prevent his team from another loss.

SQUAD

Aakash Chopra, Abhishek Raut, Aditya Dole, Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Paunikar, Amit Singh, Ankeet Chavan, Ashok Menaria, Deepak Chahar, Dinesh Salunkhe, Dishant Yagnik, Faiz Fazal, Johan Botha, Nayan Doshi, Pankaj Singh, Pinal Shah, Rahul Dravid, Ross Taylor, Samad Fallah, Shane Warne (c), Shane Watson, Shaun Tait, Siddharth Trivedi, Stuart Binny, Sumit Narwal, Swapnil Asnodkar.