Four victories on the trot and then back-to-back defeats. Rajasthan Royals suddenly find themselves on an uncomfortable pitch. That discomfort will definitely be playing in their mind when they take on Lucknow Super Giants on Wednesday.

Why this sudden dip? It’s partly because of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal. While it may sound odd, given the talent, power and flair of the two openers, it’s a fact that the Royals are overdependent on them.

When Sooryavanshi and Jaiswal were plundering runs, Royals were winning. But in their last two games, neither managed a significant knock, and that resulted in defeats to Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders. The problem gets worse when their new no. 3 Dhruv Jurel too has a bad day. With Riyan parag and Shimron Hetmyer not in the best of forms, the Royals’ middle order has lacked spine.

To their advantage, their opponents on Wednesday are a team who are in a worse situation.

Lucknow have lost three matches in a row and like the Royals, batting has been a concern. Lucknow have a comparatively better bowling attack, but then they were thrashed in their last game as Punjab Kings went on to post a 250-plus total. Jaiswal and Sooryavanshi would sniff a chance.