It wasn't supposed to be this way. Rajasthan Royals will be gutted that how they ended up in third place and having to play an extra game in a bid to make it to the final as they botched up their advantageous position with just one point in their last five games. A high-flying campaign had its nuts and bolts loosened up only for the chinks in the armour to get exposed, rather openly for the teams to pounce on it and as it stands, the Royals are yet to win a game in May.
Royals have their namesake, the Challengers from Bengaluru, who have had a turnaround for the ages in the history of the IPL. Two weeks ago, no one would have imagined that a team with 8/10 wins and the other with just 3/10 wins would face each other in the eliminator and it will be the latter with the momentum and confidence.
Jos Buttler's departure and Shimron Hetmyer's injury haven't helped one bit to the Royals' cause as the new pieces Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Donovan Ferreira haven't fit into the jigsaw puzzle as yet and the Men in Pink will hope that somehow whatever they do and the combination they go with clicks. Otherwise, it would be one of the most bizarre and disappointing ends to a campaign that looked like a title contender. RCB, on the other hand, will have to keep their emotions in check after what happened in Bengaluru a few days ago because there's still a lot of work to be done and there's still a lot of matches to be played if they dare to dream.
My Dream11 team for IPL Eliminator, RR vs RCB
Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (wk), Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Rovman Powell, Cameron Green, Swapnil Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson
Probable Playing XIIs
Rajasthan Royals: Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (wk), Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, R Ashwin, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sandeep Sharma, Avesh Khan, Nandre Burger
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik, Swapnil Singh, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal
