Royals set to host Delhi, seek revenge

Warne's men were thrashed by the Daredevils in their first meeting. Now its time for payback.

A confident Rajasthan Royals will have revenge on their minds when they take on Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League match at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium on Sunday.

It was Delhi Daredevils who had beaten Rajasthan Royals in their first match and the comprehensive defeat, which had strengthened the belief that Royals was a weak team.

But much water has flown under the bridge since then and Shane Warne’s men are now the table toppers with 12 points from a 6-2 win-loss record.

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With a comprehensive eight-wicket victory over Deccan Chargers, the hosts are high on confidence and it is no surprise that skipper Warne has given a war cry asking for revenge.

Warne himself concedes that the defeat in first match was shocking but it also helped in introspection and to work out new strategies. Since then it has been a dream run for the Royals except their loss against Mumbai Indians.

The only matter of concern is injuries of Dimitri Mascarenhas and in-form diminutive opener Swapnil Asnodkar.

“We have a big game against Delhi. A victory would help us entrench our self at the top but a defeat might see few teams tie up,” Warne said calculating that Delhi with eight points from seven matches might come level with Chennai and Punjab who also till have 10 points each.

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The hosts might sit relaxed. Making full use of the home conditions they also have the arsenal to fire. Seamers Sohail Tanveer, Shane Watson, Munaf Patel and Sidhartha Trivedi have done a decent job and Warne is looking as good as ever.

The part time bowlers in Yousuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja have also delivered when required. This has given Warne more options and he can dare put opposition in to bat.

The batting has a healthy look too. Pathan is relishing his new role and giving his best, Graeme Smith, Watson and Jadeja too are in good form. The biggest strength is that they have combined well as a team.

“I trust my players and the intensity is there. After the first match we have responded well as a group. Even at the time of auction I was in constant touch. We wanted a team with 2-3 options for each slot. Touch wood that the strategy has paid off till now,” Warne said.

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On the other hand, Delhi Daredevils have lost a few close matches. They are certainly better than what they are looking in points table at present.

Captain Virendra Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan are in good form but AB de Villiers and Pakistani skipper Shoaib Malik are yet to come in with a big contribution.

In the bowling departent, Australian Glenn McGrath’s experience and fire power of Pakistani Mohammad Asif is supported by VYo Mahesh, Pradeep Sangwan, Sehwag and Malik. The recent dust storms and little bit of drizzling has made weather pleasant for the big battle.