England all-rounder Liam Livingstone is going to be an important part of the Rajasthan Royals side in the second half of IPL 2021. RR have suffered some massive losses and will be missing out on the duties of key players like Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, and Jofra Archer.
In the absence of their strong overseas core, RR will be hoping that Liam Livingstone can help fill this space. In this situation, he is pretty much guaranteed a spot in the XI and will be looking to get the best out of this precious opportunity considering he did not get a single match in the first half of the season.
That said, here are 3 reasons why Liam Livingstone could be the tournament-changing player for RR in the second phase of IPL 2021.
3. Liam Livingstone is a big-hitting batsman
In the absence of Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, RR desperately need some good batsmen in their batting order. Livingstone can provide them with much-needed big shots at the top. He has already shown his potential by hitting some huge sixes in the last few months.
Livingstone hit a massive six off Haris Rauf’s bowling in the England-Pakistan T20I series, which took place in July 2021. He left everyone awestruck with a straight six, which went as far as 122 metres. He can certainly be the aggressor for the Rajasthan Royals in the absence of Jos Buttler.
In the recently concluded The Hundred, Livingstone hit as many as 27 sixes. He scores immensely against spin and can be useful in countering it in spin-friendly UAE conditions. RR will be hoping that he can produce some big innings for them.
2. Liam Livingstone provides all-round options in the RR team
Along with being a great batsman, Liam Livingstone is also an extremely capable spin bowling option. The UAE conditions are favorable for spin and therefore his leg-spin could be a major contributor to the team’s success.
Livingstone has not played a lot of international cricket but a key reason for him being in the England line-up is his ability to bowl. He has bowled 60 balls in T20I’s and has secured two wickets, conceding just 72 runs.Now that’s some excellent economy rate right there.
1. Livingstone is in phenomenal touch ahead of IPL 2021 Phase 2
The best thing for Rajasthan right now is the form Livingstone is in. He has been at his absolute best in the last few months and will look to continue in the same way in IPL 2021. If Livingstone can continue his fantastic run, he could definitely help RR in their quest to win a second IPL title,one that has been evading them for 12 seasons now.
Livingstone continued his form in The Hundred as he scored 348 runs in just 9 innings. He scored those runs at a sensational strike-rate of 178.46 with an average of 58. He was also declared the most valuable player of the inaugural season of The Hundred.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.