Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif has praised Rajasthan Royals’ recent form and suggested that they are peaking at the right time, towards the business end of the IPL 2022 season. Meanwhile, Gujarat Titans, who finished on top of the league table, have suffered a dip in form in recent games and need to find a way to bounce back.
Both sides occupied the first and second positions in the IPL table and as a result, will square off against each other in the first Qualifier at the iconic Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata. Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans will get two bites of the cherry and the losing side will get another chance of making it to the IPL 2022 final in the second qualifier.
The last time these two sides met each other, GT got the better of RR by 37 runs. On that occasion, Gujarat captain Hardik Pandya slammed a fabulous knock of 87 not out off 52 deliveries and also picked up a wicket to win the Man of the Match award. However, Mohammad Kaif believes that Rajasthan Royals will have the edge going into the all-important knockout match on Tuesday.
Three of GT’s four defeats in IPL 2022 have arrived in the last five matches. They ended the league phase with a loss at the hands of Royal Challengers Bangalore and the recent dip in form might be a reason to worry. Meanwhile, RR have won both their last couple of fixtures and have shown plenty of resilience.
“RR are peaking at the right time. They are learning to win matches even without major contributions from Jos Buttler. It’s a big thing for them. GT’s performances have gone down in recent times. They have lost three of their last five games, two of which have been big defeats, by eight wickets. Gujarat have lost some momentum,” Mohammad Kaif told Sportskeeda.
Rajasthan Royals, who had failed to mark a major impression in recent IPL seasons have undergone a complete revamp for this season and look like a fresh and exciting side. They were quite impressive during the auction and Kaif praised their strategy of picking up match-winning players.
“RR did very well at the auction. The same has reflected in their performances, the way they have played. They are very well-balanced in both batting and bowling,” he further added.
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