Struggling middle order worries Rajasthan Royals ahead of LSG clash

Rajasthan Royals, the inaugural IPL champions, will be aiming to stop their recent slump when they face Lucknow Super Giants at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Wednesday, with the visitors particularly concerned about the poor form of their middle order, especially captain Riyan Parag.

RR are currently third on the points table and had started the season strongly with four straight wins. However, things have gone downhill in their last two matches. The slide started against Sunrisers Hyderabad, when they suffered a heavy 57-run defeat after a dramatic collapse, losing five wickets for just nine runs against pace.

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In their previous game against Kolkata Knight Riders, they let a winning position slip, with Rinku Singh turning the match around late to hand KKR their first win of the season.

Parag’s form has been a major concern. Handed the captaincy after Sanju Samson’s exit, he has struggled badly with the bat, scoring just one 20 in six innings and registering three single-digit scores. While the top order comprising the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel, has carried the batting for most of the season, the team has faltered whenever the top three hasn’t delivered.

Parag is not the only one out of form. Ravindra Jadeja has looked far from his best, while Shimron Hetmyer has managed just 39 runs in four innings. Despite this, batting coach Vikram Rathour has backed his skipper to bounce back.

“As far as I am concerned, it is just a matter of time. Not everyone makes runs every time,” Rathour had said of Parag’s poor run, after their defeat to KKR at Eden Gardens.

“Teams run in such a way that some stay in form, some stay out of form. There is no doubt that he will come back and win us a few games on his own as a batter,” Rathour added.

Fielding has also hurt Rajasthan at crucial moments. Nandre Burger dropped Rinku Singh early in the last match, and that mistake proved costly as Rinku, along with Anukul Roy, finished the game strongly.

Even with these issues, Rajasthan still look stronger than Lucknow, who are struggling in ninth place after three straight losses. RR’s opening pair has been one of the most effective this season, with Sooryavanshi in great form and Jaiswal providing consistency. For Lucknow, early wickets will be key, but their bowling attack has been under pressure.

In their last match, Punjab Kings piled up 254/7 — the highest total of the season, after Priyansh Arya and Cooper Connolly added 182 runs in just 13.2 overs. That performance exposed LSG’s bowling, which has lacked control. Prince Yadav has been a rare positive, picking up 2/25, but Avesh Khan and Mohammed Shami have struggled, while Manimaran Siddharth has also been expensive.

Lucknow will likely look to exploit Rajasthan’s weak middle order, but their own batting has not been settled either. The decision to push Ayush Badoni up to open with Mitchell Marsh hasn’t worked. Marsh has scored back-to-back 40s but hasn’t converted them into big scores, while captain Rishabh Pant has been inconsistent. Nicholas Pooran’s poor form has only added to their troubles.

For Lucknow Super Giants to turn things around, they will need both their batting and bowling units to deliver together, something they have not managed so far this season.

Squads:

Lucknow Super Giants: Rishabh Pant (c), Aiden Markram, Himmat Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Mukul Choudhary, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Arshin Kulkarni, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ayush Badoni, Mohammed Shami, Avesh Khan, M Siddharth, Digvesh Rathi, Akash Singh, Prince Yadav, Arjun Tendulkar, Anrich Nortje, Naman Tiwari, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan.

Rajasthan Royals: Riyan Parag (c), Dhruv Jurel, Donovan Ferreira, Lhuan-Dre Pretorius, Ravi Singh, Aman Perala, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Adam Milne, Brijesh Sharma, Jofra Archer, Kuldeep Sen, Kwena Maphaka, Nandre Burger, Ravi Bishnoi, Sandeep Sharma