Productive week for the Royals
Productive week for the Royals
The Vijay Hazare Trophy has taken centre-stage in India’s domestic circuit, while the Marsh Cup has commenced in Australia. On the other side of the globe, the County Championship has also come to an end. All our Rajasthan Royals boys have done us proud yet again. Krishnappa Gowtham: 5/43 vs Jharkhand One of the reasons for Karnataka’s success in the last few years has been the potency of their spinners across formats. Krishnappa Gowtham is one of the senior members of their spin department. He has been in piping hot form during the last couple of months. He spun his way through the Jharkhand batting line-up. KG dismissed the top 3 run-getters in Jharkhand’s innings before cleaning up the tail and claimed a much-deserved 5-wicket haul. Shreyas Gopal: 2/39 vs Jharkhand KG’s partner in crime against Jharkhand was none other than his Rajasthan Royals teammate, Shreyas Gopal. While the former stole most of the limelight, Gopal chipped in with a couple of quick wickets to set the Jharkhand middle order back. Gopal, along with KG can prove to be two of the most dangerous spinners in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Jaydev Unadkat: 2/28 vs Kerala The Saurashtra captain led from the front on his debut as the frontman for his side. Jaydev Unadkat couldn’t pick a wicket with the new ball, but he returned and brought all his experience into his later spells. JD claimed two middle-order wickets that helped Saurashtra keep Kerala to just 186. Liam Livingstone: 84 & 68 vs Middlesex Liam Livingstone has had quite the English summer. He played a major role in helping Lancashire to the quarterfinals of the Vitality T20 Blast and showed his prowess in the County Championship as well. His exploits with both bat and ball have helped Lancashire qualify for County Championship Division One, by winning Division Two. In the season\"s penultimate game against Middlesex, Liam shined for Lancashire once again, securing brilliant fifties in both innings. He scored a scintillating 84 in the first innings and followed it up with a patient 68 to put Lancashire in a winning position. Ashton Turner: 52 vs Victoria April 27th, 2019 was the last time Ashton Turner played a game of professional cricket, in the IPL, for Rajasthan Royals. He had his shoulder operated a few weeks later and was forced to stay out of action. Turner made his return nearly five months later for Western Australia in the Marsh Cup. When he walked out to bat, his team were in a commanding position and that gave him the freedom to play his natural attacking game. Turner scored a 49-ball 52 that included 4 fours and a six. The Indian Royals will be in constant action for the rest of the year, while Turner will look to get back into national reckoning with a string of meaty performances. It is Liam’s turn to rest after a summer of some tremendous performances. There are more Royals who will make this space in the coming weeks. Watch out!