IPL 2025: Royals aim to out-bat in-form Punjab Kings

MULLANPUR: An out-of-sorts Yashasvi Jaiswal would want his on-field exploits to make headlines rather than his off-field decisions as Rajasthan Royals, led by regular skipper Sanju Samson, will aim to keep a marauding Punjab Kings batting line-up in check in their IPL clash here on Saturday.

Jaiswal, Indian batting’s heir apparent to Virat Kohli, recently made news for switching from Mumbai to Goa reportedly due to differences and ego clashes with an ageing, out-of-favour India star in his state team.

The stylish left-hander has also looked scratchy in his three knocks with scores of 1, 29 and 4 and is expected to shoulder a lot more responsibility in this line-up where Samson does most of the heavy-lifting.

One reason for Jaiswal’s poor form could be the lack of game time since his ODI debut against England in February, after which he was dropped from the Indian Champions Trophy squad.

It also remains unclear how Jaiswal has taken Rajasthan Royals’ decision to appoint Riyan Parag as the stand-in skipper, despite the Assamese all-rounder not even being close to him in terms of sheer cricketing quality.

That Jaiswal is desperate for bigger leadership role in national and IPL set-up has become an open secret after his Goa switch but every move will prove to be counter-productive if he doesn’t get back among runs quickly. In IPL universe, the form can turn from bad to worse in no time.

Also in the three matches that Riyan led the side, no one exactly saw any special leadership spark which would make him stand out despite his relative inexperience.

While Royals under an inexperienced Riyan didn’t look convincing even as it managed to beat an equally out-of-sorts Chennai Super Kings, the victory will certainly keep it in good stead against a Punjab side which is being led well by a seasoned Shreyas Iyer.

For the Royals’ bowling attack, the challenge will be tough against Punjab, whose skipper has been leading from the front with back-to-back half-centuries, both knocks in which he stamped his authority over the opposition.

His batting has been top-notch, with noticeable improvement in his power-hitting. One statistic underscores this transformation -- while he hit 13 sixes in 16 games during IPL 2024, he has already matched that tally in just two matches this season.

To top that, his strategic moves have been top-notch, whether the field placements in the Powerplay like keeping a deep extra cover for Nicholas Pooran first-up or stationing a fielder at ‘45’ for Rishabh Pant, who loves the slog pull behind the square.