Guwahati (Assam): Ahead of Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) much-anticipated Indian Premier League (IPL) clash against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), RR head coach Rahul Dravid opened up on the team’s strategy and the evolving role of all-rounders in T20 cricket.
Impact Player Rule & Its Effect on Team Combinations
🔹 Dravid emphasized that the Impact Player rule has significantly diminished the role of all-rounders in modern-day T20 cricket.
🔹 RR has been fielding six genuine batters, including Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shubham Dubey, and Shimron Hetmyer.
🔹 The team does not have a genuine all-rounder but relies on a mix of part-time bowling options, including Nitish Rana and Wanindu Hasaranga.
Dravid’s Take on Team Balance
💬 “With the Impact Player rule, we now get an extra bowling or batting option with 12 players. In our last game, we had seven bowling options in the XI, covering that department well.” – Rahul Dravid
💬 “With batting depth, we extended our lineup using [Wanindu] Hasaranga at No. 8 and [Shimron] Hetmyer at No. 8, with Jofra [Archer] at No. 9. The all-rounder’s role has diminished significantly due to this rule.”
RR vs CSK – A High-Stakes Battle
🔥 Rajasthan Royals’ Form: After two consecutive defeats against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), RR will be keen to bounce back.
🔥 Chennai Super Kings’ Challenge: CSK, led by Ruturaj Gaikwad, suffered a massive defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) despite a strong start against Mumbai Indians (MI).
Squads for RR vs CSK Clash
🟡 Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Squad:
Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Deepak Hooda, Sam Curran, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Matheesha Pathirana, Khaleel Ahmed, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Vijay Shankar, Jamie Overton, Shaik Rasheed, Shreyas Gopal, Devon Conway, Mukesh Choudhary, Anshul Kamboj, Nathan Ellis, Gurjapneet Singh, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Andre Siddarth C, Vansh Bedi.
🔴 Rajasthan Royals (RR) Squad:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Riyan Parag (c), Nitish Rana, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Shubham Dubey, Shimron Hetmyer, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma, Kunal Singh Rathore, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya, Kwena Maphaka, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Ashok Sharma, Vaibhav Suryavanshi.