Rajasthan Vs Bangalore - Preview

Rajasthan team visibly disturbed by the serial blasts in Jaipur will have to come out from the shock of the blasts. Beleaguered Bangalore side is meeting the Rajasthan team at Sawai Mansingh Stadium today evening.

The media has been reporting that Home team captain Shane Warne, Shane Watson and Graeme Smith were reportedly terrified by the blasts on Tuesday. A section of media even reported that they were reluctant to return to the Pink City for the match.

However, after getting the assurance from the League Commissioner Lalit Modi, Warne and his boys are returning from their vacation in Goa. The hosts are sitting comfortably at the top with 14 points.

They just need one more win to get a place in the semi-finals. The Bangalore side is obviously positioned in weaker condition. Dravid & Co. has only four points after seven defeats and two wins.

Rajasthan appears to be the favourite in this match but much depends on their mental state as they are disturbed due to blasts. The blasts have left the Rajasthan’s preparations into disarray.

Shane Warne’s team was scheduled to reach Jaipur on Thursday for training and a net session. But now it’s clear that majority of the players would arrive late as the practice session has been cancelled.

Both the teams are under pressure due to various reasons, Rajasthan is disturbed due to blasts on the other hand there is much pressure on Bangalore in the face of criticism it has received from the owner of the team – Vijay Mallya.

Pakistan’s Younis Khan is expected to join Rajasthan team as a replacement for Dimitri Mascarenhas. On the other hand, everything has gone bad for the Bangalore team so it is the high time for them to start winning the matches.

The teams (from):
Rajasthan: Shane Warne (captain), Graeme Smith, Yusuf Pathan, Swapnil Asnodkar, Mohammad Kaif, Shane Watson, Sohail Tanvir, Munaf Patel, Siddharth Trivedi, Ravindra Jadeja, Niraj Patel, Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Taruvar Kohli, Dinesh Salunkhe, Pankaj Singh.

Bangalore: Rahul Dravid (captain), J. Arun Kumar, Virat Kohli, Misbah-ul-Haq, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn, R. Vinay Kumar, Sunil Joshi, Anil Kumble, Bharat Chipli, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Cameron White, Devraj Patil.