This contest has a sense of Indianess to it

Of the three games played by them this season,Rajasthan Royals havent lost at home.

Of the three games played by them this season,Rajasthan Royals havent lost at home. And so far,Kings XI Punjab have proved to be better travellers than hosts. Something,then,has got to give when the Adam Gilchrists Punjab come visting Jaipur to take on Rahul Dravids Royals. The anticipation of a contest between these two sides is elevated when one realises that in all of the IPL,Royals and Punjab put the great emphasis on grooming local talent.

And many of them from both teams have already come to the fore and made an impact despite it being early days in the tournament. For Punjab,young batsman Manan Vohra averages 59 in this tournament the highest this season for a player who hasnt played international cricket. Vohra was of course the match winner in Punjabs eight-wicket win over the Warriors in Pune,leading the chase with a steady unbeaten 43.

Vohra and the other Indian talent in this side,Mandeep Singh,set themselves up well for the win with a 56-run second wicket stand.

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It goes without saying that when they were blanked by 10 wickets by the Chennai Super Kings,neither Vohra nor Mandeep could cause a stir. But in spite of the loss,another young Punjab batter,Gurkeerat Singh,came to the party with the second highest score of 31 of the game against CSK.

For Rajasthan,the Indian talent have flexed their muscle on the bowling front. Rahul Shuklas speedy burst against the Kolkata Knight Riders at home,where he scalped both Jacques Kallis and Manvinder Bisla with balls clocking over 140 kmph,was one big highlight in that game,while Siddharth Trivedis three wicket haul was the other.

Apart from Shukla and Trivedi,RR have in their spin artillery the likes of left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh,who made his IPL debut with the new ball the other day,off-spinner Ashok Chandila and another left-arm spinner in Ankeet Chavan.

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