Before Rajasthan Royals’ Deepak Hooda could get his eye in, his senior colleague from the team Shane Watson, while giving a TV interview near his team’s dug-out, said how this young cricket could win a match single-handedly.
Not many would have gauged what this Australian all-rounder was talking about after Royal’s top-order was back in the pavilion. But with time, Hooda showed the world what his injured captain was talking about.
The Under-19 cricketer will again be a key factor when they the Royals take on Mumbai Indians at Ahmadabad’s Motera stadium on Tuesday. The Royals have two wins under their belt and will be facing a team which has lost two of their last outings.
In other words, Mumbai are desperate for a win to grab some momentum in the competition and they really have to play out their skin to beat the Royals.
Mumbai’s paranoid dependence on Rohit Sharma is hurting the team most. Against the Kings XI Punjab, Harbhajan Singh did shine in the match with his allround show, but that wasn’t enough to romp home a win.
The critical phase of the tournament has already started and if any team is looking to race ahead of others, they will have to start winning right now. So for Mumbai, this match is very critical. Losing this match means losing the initial momentum.
Last year, the defending champions KKR did lose quite a few matches and still went ahead to win the tournament. But last year was a first of its kind. Hope, Mumbai would be able to match the Royals.
