JAIPUR: With two wins on the trot, it has been a great start for
Rajasthan in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2020-21. A familiar script was on display even during their second match against Madhya Pradesh which they won by 10 runs on Wednesday, where one batting hero and a dependable bowling unit took the team through.
Batting first, it was
Mahipal Lomror's cameo of 51 off 27 balls that took the team to a respectable 148 all out in 19.2 overs. Later, it was leg-spinner
Rahul Chahar who turned the tide in Rajasthan's favour recording figures of 5-14. Another leg-spinner
Ravi Bishnoi
was wicketless, but complemented Rahul well against MP.
Ashok Menaria & Co will face Services in their Group D match in Indore on Friday and chief coach Nikhil Doru feels spinners will again dominate the show. "As we progress in the tournament, the wicket will get slower given several matches are being played on the same strip. So spinners' role will become all the more important," Doru told TOI on the eve of Rajasthan's third
T20
game.
Talking about the struggling batting unit, the new coach said that at this point when the team is winning, they see no need to tinker with the playing XI. "Definitely our openers need to step up. But at this point we are clearly reluctant to change the team. Let's see how batsmen perform in the next game and may be then we might take a call," added the 41-year-old.
By not playing promising players like wicketkeeper batsman Bharat Sharma, Rajasthan are probably denying them a potential
IPL contract. But the coach made it clear that at the moment his priority is to win the domestic T20 tournament. "As a team our focus is to perform as a unit. If we start thinking about IPL contracts, players' focus will shift to their individual performance," he said.
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