Rajasthan Royals players and staff seem to be in an upbeat mood, with two wins on the trot putting them back in contention for a playoff spot. Ben Stokes is back in form with the bat in hand while Sanju Samson too seems to have shrugged off the his mid-tournament jitters. They take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in a do-or-die clash in Dubai on Sunday. Ahead of the crucial match, the RR players and staff were in high spirits, even finding time to challenge each other. Ben Stokes threw down the gauntlet to RR’s fielding coach Dishant Yagnik, challenging him to hit two sixes off 12 balls. However, there was a small twist — the England all-rounder would be bowling off-spin.
RR posted the video on their official Twitter handle. It starts with Stokes vowing to put Yagnik “back in his place”.
“Yogi, I’m gonna get him out. I’m gonna put him back in his place. He thinks he can hit sixes,” Stokes is heard saying.
The England all-rounder then tries to sledge the former cricketer by asking him which bat he would be using.
“Yogi, you want to use the GM? Too heavy for your little chicken arms, mate,” Stokes tells Yagnik, who in reply says, “If you give me some Kashmir willow, I can hit.”
Yagnik then finally appears in front of the cameras to explain the challenge.
“This morning, Stokesy challenged me. He’s gonna bowl 12 balls and the challenge is I have to hit at least two sixes out of those 12 balls. Although I have retired three years back, I’ll give my best and try to hit at least two out of the ground,” says Yagnik.
Promoted
Want to know if Yagnik managed to trump Stokes, watch the entire video here:
Overs: 2
Target: 2 sixesCan Fielding coach @Dishantyagnik77 get the better of off-spinner @benstokes38?
#HallaBol | #RoyalsFamily | #IPL2020 pic.twitter.com/5Q1kHnplmd— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) November 1, 2020
RR and Stokes have more pressing matters at hand on Sunday, when they take on KKR. Even a win might not be sufficent for either teams to get to the playoffs, because of their poor run-rate.
RR will hope they beat KKR, while CSK get the better of Kings XI Punjab in the first game on Sunday. That still might not be enough as RR will then need Mumbai Indians to do them a favour by beating SunRisers Hyderabad on Tuesday.
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