The Hindu : Sport : Warne looks to set record straight

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Warne looks to set record straight

Royal Challengers resurgent under Kumble’s captaincy

— Photo: PTI

EYEING THE TARGET: On a winning streak, Royal Challengers Bangalore would be hoping Virat Kohli, who tries his hands at archery, and Wasim Jaffer too get going.

Pretoria: Having posted a record 211 in its previous encounter, a buoyant Rajasthan Royals will look to set the record straight against Royal Challengers Bangalore, which had humbled it in their opening match, in the Indian Premier League here on Thursday.

The defending champion, which was steamrolled for a lowly 58 by Bangalore on the day the high-profile event kick-started, appears to be on its way up with emphatic wins over Deccan Chargers and Kings XI Punjab following roller-coaster runs of alternating wins and losses till last week.

Peaking

Rajasthan seems to be peaking at the right time with its form book boasting of a revived Graeme Smith. Naman Ojha and Amit Singh also lived up to captain-coach Warne’s expectation with their shining performances with bat and ball respectively in the win over Punjab.

Ravindra Jadeja also showed glimpses of what he is capable of after the team’s hero of last year — opener Swapnil Asnodkar — failed to click on South African pitches.

The fans would be waiting to see what surprise Warne has up his sleeves to humble the resurgent Royal Challengers under veteran leg-spinner Anil Kumble’s captaincy.

The Vijay Mallya-owned team has emerged as a force to reckon with, under Kumble, remaining unbeaten in its last three matches.

Creditable performance

The performance is all the more creditable as its most expensive player Kevin Pietersen has left the team to join the national squad for a Test series against West Indies. After Pietersen’s departure, the team romped home riding on star all-rounder Jacques Kallis and Robin Uthappa’s batting and Kumble’s bowling in the previous match.

However, with the competition intensifying with each and every match, it is high time Wasim Jaffer and Virat Kohli also come to the team’s aid. — PTI

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