RR players slog in 'optional' practice in bid to change fate on Sunday

Guwahati: What was to be an optional practice session, turned out to be a regular one with the full Rajasthan Royals squad, sans Shimron Hetmyer, participating in it at ACA Stadium here on Friday evening.

As their Sunday's opponents Chennai Super Kings were busy playing Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Chepauk, the Royals got down to finetune their skills under the watchful eyes of their coaching team and director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara, a couple of days ahead of their third IPL tie against the five-time champions here.

Despite the Royals trying not to look worried, their action spoke volumes on what was going on in the camp. Media requests for any opportunity to talk with the players were politely turned down by the media team saying, "players are not in the mood to talk to the media now". Had there been a win against Kolkata Knight Riders, things would have been different it seems.

Consecutive losses in the opening two rounds of games have certainly not gone down well with the team management. They are determined to turn things around sooner than later in a tournament where you don't get much time to sit back and reflect on the things that didn't go your way.

So, after a rest day following the eight-wicket loss to KKR on Wednesday night, Royals hit the nets. The eagerness to rectify things was evident as they arrived quite early for the scheduled 5-8pm practice session from the team hotel which is more than 25km away from the stadium.

The Royals warmed up at main ground before hitting the nets adjacent to the stadium. Openers Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal batted for hours at the nets while English pacer Jofra Archer was seen bowling continuously for more than half an hour under the watchful eyes of RR assistant and fast bowling coach Shane Bond.

After facing the pacers at the nets and some knocking thereafter, young opener Jaiswal was seen on his knees talking to injured head coach Rahul Dravid who is attending practice sessions on wheelchair these days.

Scoring only 30 runs in the first two games, with 29 of those coming against KKR in stuttering fashion, Jaiswal again spent more than half an hour at the nets playing spinners, including stand-in skipper Riyan Parag, following his lengthy chat with Dravid.

The Mumbai batter, who had a decent last season scoring 435 runs from 16 matches, looked determined to leave behind his meagre contributions so far this season.

Sara to perform before RR-CSK match: Bollywood star Sara Ali Khan is all set to set the stage on fire and enthrall the jampacked stadium here before the start of the RR-CSK match on Sunday evening. IPL announced the news on its social media handles on Friday.

Sara's performance is to start an hour before the scheduled 7:30pm match start and the city will also witness the first-ever IPL drone show during the game. The show is set to celebrate the home franchise's journey over the seasons.

Reportedly, Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez was supposed to thrill the audience before the first match here, but due to personal reasons she had to withdraw at the last moment.