Rajasthan Royals (RR) did not get off to the best start as they comprehensively lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their IPL opener. RR have not been able to win the title after their fairytale run in the first season. RR owners were ready to spend big bucks in IPL 2018 auctions, roping in Jaydev Unadkat, Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes, D’Arcy Short and others.
Let’s take a look at individual milestones players can achieve in the first match of IPL —
Rahane is the second-highest run-scorer for RR and is also the 11th highest in the history of the tournament so far. He has 16 50-plus scores for RR, tieing with Shane Watson who will be playing for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) this year. With one half-century in the second game against Delhi Daredevils (DD), he can become the batsman with most 50-plus scores for RR.
With one half-century, Rahane is also set to go past West Indies destructive opener Chris Gayle. Rahane and Gayle have 26 50-plus scores each in IPL. The RR skipper will occupy the sixth spot on the list of most 50-plus scores in IPL, which is currently led by former SRH skipper David Warner with a tally of 39. He is currently on the 7th spot of most fifties list in the league.
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All-rounder Stuart Binny has returned to RR after a gap of two years. Given a chance, with 23 more runs, Binny will surpass former Australian cricketer Brad Hodge who has 639 runs for RR. He will become the 7th highest run-scorer while batting for RR.
Dhawal Kulkarni will have to pull off a spectacular performance to enter the top 10 wicket-takers for RR. Kulkarni has 19 wickets from 19 games currently and needs 4 wickets to go past Yusuf Pathan (20) and Pakistan’s Sohail Tanvir (22) to enter the top 10 list. With 23 wickets, he will be able to equal former Australian cricketer Shaun Tait and Pravin Tambe. The list is currently topped by Watson with 65 wickets.
