Rajasthan Royals favourites to win on 'home' turf

AHMEDABAD: Two contrasting pictures emerged from two camps as Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders landed in Ahmedabad on Sunday for their 4 pm match at the Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium in Motera on Monday.
The Royals are obviously on a high. They had a fairly decent outing in the gulf, winning three of their five games there and then began their Indian leg with a thumping win over Delhi Daredevils on Saturday night.The Knight Riders are, on the other hand, busy picking up the pieces to get the jigsaw puzzle right before it is too late.
KKR's campaign in the UAE was a bumpy rollercoaster ride. They started with a convincing win over Mumbai Indians but lost the plot midway and started finding various ways to lose a game even from winning positions.
If winning is a habit, losing is contagious and KKR is desperately looking for a remedy. So they got down to business moments after their arrival in the city while the Royals took things easy. They came to the stadium in batches and were on the field too but that was more to socialize and get acquainted with their "home" ground and the "home" staff.
The Royals and the Knight Riders may be third and fourth respectively on the points table but Shane Watson's boys are two wins ahead of Gautam Gambhir's men. And more importantly, the Royals are playing like a team while the Knight Riders' performance is highlighted by individual brilliance punctuated with inconsistency.
The Royals mostly are unknown entities thriving hard for their moment in the sun whereas the KKR line-up is full of past, present and future stars, all failing to shine any brighter than a twinkle. With the Royals, it seems that every individual is aware of his role in the team and they look to make it count. But with the Knight Riders, the longing to see some surprise is getting longer and longer with every passing day.
The script has more or less become very predictable - a supposedly weak bowling line-up desperately trying to make up for the failure of a 'strong' batting line-up.