Rajasthan Royals have been hit by another blow as their opener, Graeme Smith was ruled out of the IPL with a finger injury today. Earlier, the Rajasthan Royals lost their second game in a row when Delhi easily overcame the 2008 winners by six wickets and with almost three overs to spare.
Smith injured his finger when he caught Virender Sehwag as the batsman skied the ball off the bowling of Munaf Patel. Smith circled around it and eventually caught it, but his finger seemed to have jammed between the ball and the field.
Apart from Smith, the Royals could also miss out on the presence of Dimitri Mascarenhas and Yusuf Pathan for their next game. Mascarenhas injured his ankle while running between the wickets, whereas Pathan hurt his shoulder while diving for the ball during the Delhi game.
The Royals had been dealt a huge blow earlier, when Ravindra Jadeja had been banned from playing in the tournament earlier. Shane Watson is also involved in playing a couple of Test matches for the Australian national team and will not be a part of the side before early next month.
Currently, according to the bookies, the Royals seem to have nothing more than outside chance of winning the tournament, with Boylesports offering 16/1 for their win. Graeme Smith was at 4/1 (William Hill) to top-score for his side in the tournament, but after being ruled out of the IPL, it will be Yusuf Pathan (6/5 at William Hill) who should be a runaway winner – if he is fit enough to play in most of the games.
Pathan is currently at 20/1 (William Hill) to win the Orange Cap at the end of the tournament, while Stan James offers 18/1 for Dimitri Mascarenhas to end the tournament with the highest number of wickets.