New Delhi: Rajasthan Royals will take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL 2024 Eliminator on Wednesday following a dramatic end to the league that saw Sunrisers Hyderabad leapfrog RR to second place.
SRH defeated Punjab Kings to secure second place and push RR to third position. Royals' subsequent match against Kolkata Knight Riders was lost, solidifying SRH's status based on net run rate.
Former Indian cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra shared his insights on the upcoming fixture on his YouTube channel and highlighted that the recent developments are favorable for RCB.
“Hyderabad are a dangerous team so everything is going in RCB's favor one by one. It's not that RCB can't beat them, but they've done it once at (SRH's) home ground. But the truth is, the game of the day was 'They will catch and catch the Rajasthan Royals,' Chopra said.
Chopra admitted that it was a historic challenge for a team that finished third or fourth in the league, saying, “So that means RCB is in a happy position to play in an eliminator. “It's difficult because we are the only team in history to do so.” Once, a team that finished 3rd or 4th won the championship, and that was Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016. ”
The road to the finals will be tough for RCB. If they defeat RR, they will face the loser of SRH vs KKR in Qualifier 1 in Qualifier 2. To win their first IPL trophy, they will have to beat the winners of Qualifier 1 in the final as well.
Chopra also pointed out RR's poor form towards the end of the season.
“The match was a big loss and due to that Rajasthan lost the chance to reach 18 points. The truth is that this team has not won a single match in May. They won eight of their first nine matches. But after that, we couldn't win a single game.''They scored four tries, cleared UPSC with four tries, but couldn't win a single game,'' he said.
Despite the washout, Chopra suggested this could not be solely blamed for RR's third-place finish.
“You can look at the point you finally got from two perspectives. You can say it was because of your bad time that you lost the point, otherwise you could have achieved second place.The second way of looking at it is, I'm glad I came.'' Imagine if your eligibility was not confirmed after the qualifying round and you were sent off for this one point. ” he elaborated.
SRH defeated Punjab Kings to secure second place and push RR to third position. Royals' subsequent match against Kolkata Knight Riders was lost, solidifying SRH's status based on net run rate.
Former Indian cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra shared his insights on the upcoming fixture on his YouTube channel and highlighted that the recent developments are favorable for RCB.
“Hyderabad are a dangerous team so everything is going in RCB's favor one by one. It's not that RCB can't beat them, but they've done it once at (SRH's) home ground. But the truth is, the game of the day was 'They will catch and catch the Rajasthan Royals,' Chopra said.
Chopra admitted that it was a historic challenge for a team that finished third or fourth in the league, saying, “So that means RCB is in a happy position to play in an eliminator. “It's difficult because we are the only team in history to do so.” Once, a team that finished 3rd or 4th won the championship, and that was Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016. ”
The road to the finals will be tough for RCB. If they defeat RR, they will face the loser of SRH vs KKR in Qualifier 1 in Qualifier 2. To win their first IPL trophy, they will have to beat the winners of Qualifier 1 in the final as well.
Chopra also pointed out RR's poor form towards the end of the season.
“The match was a big loss and due to that Rajasthan lost the chance to reach 18 points. The truth is that this team has not won a single match in May. They won eight of their first nine matches. But after that, we couldn't win a single game.''They scored four tries, cleared UPSC with four tries, but couldn't win a single game,'' he said.
Despite the washout, Chopra suggested this could not be solely blamed for RR's third-place finish.
“You can look at the point you finally got from two perspectives. You can say it was because of your bad time that you lost the point, otherwise you could have achieved second place.The second way of looking at it is, I'm glad I came.'' Imagine if your eligibility was not confirmed after the qualifying round and you were sent off for this one point. ” he elaborated.
