GUWAHATI: Having found themselves in a similar situation after suffering defeats in their respective opening matches, it will be interesting to see which team feels more at home here on Wednesday as Rajasthan Royals (RR) take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Assam Cricket Association Stadium.
While the Knights suffered a seven-wicket loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru at home, the Royals went down to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 44 runs. Though it’s too early to be worried at the start of such a long season, both sides will be hoping to turn things around at the earliest.
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“It’s always good to win the first game, but there are some lessons to be learnt from there. We could have capitalised (on the start); we could have got more runs, but we lost wickets towards the end of the innings. Whatever you do, there is always an opportunity to bowl better,” KKR bowling coach Bharat Arun said on Tuesday.
Though the Knights are the away team here, the former India bowling coach is hoping to get some home comfort over the Royals. The Jaipur-based franchise uses the Barsapara stadium as their second home ground in addition to their base at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
“Guwahati is a short distance from Kolkata, (many people) speak the same language here, so it’s a second home for us,” Arun said with a cheeky smile. But Riyan Parag, the Royals' skipper for the first three games, begged to differ.
“I’m not sure how many Bengalis are there in KKR (there are none), but being an Assamese I hope I’ll get more support over here,” the 23-year-old Parag said.
Both sides must make some corrections if they want to come back to winning ways.
Rajasthan’s bowlers gave away too many runs to the Hyderabad batters, led by Ishan Kishan — who scored a ton — and opener Travis Head. The Knights, on the other hand, will hope that Rinku comes back into the groove and Varun Chakravarthy weaves a web with his mystery spin.
