With their backs against the wall after two successive losses, an injury-stricken Jaipur will take on a rejuvenated Bangalore tonight.

Shane Warne’s inspirational leadership that saw his side conquering the first edition of the IPL seems to be fading away. Nothing has been going right for the leg-spinning legend.

His fringe players, who were the key to Jaipur’s royal show in the first edition two years back have failed to deliver, perhaps too overawed by the expectations of a champion side. Maybe they should take a leaf out of Abhishek Jhunjunwala, whose sublime fifty lent a look of respectability to Jaipur's total against Delhi on Monday.

Barring Yusuf Pathan, none of Warne’s top stars have packed a punch. South African skipper Graeme Smith, who was at his sublime best in 2008 struggled to get runs in the first two matches in the third season before being ruled out with an injury. England all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas, who lends the much needed balance to the side will not feature in the IPL any more.

Jaipur’s plight is all the worse for Warne’s poor form. The former Aussie spinner has not stamped his class yet and been taken for plenty of runs. A lot depends on Yusuf, who almost turned it around for the team in their opening clash against Mumbai with a 37-ball hundred.

In stark contrast, Bangalore have started to get their rhythm back. After a drubbing at the hands of Kolkata at the Eden Gardens, Anil Kumble led his team to a sensational win against Mohali at home.

Chasing over 200 is never easy but Jacques Kallis, Robin Uthappa and young Manish Pandey batted beautifully to hand Mohali their second loss in as many outings.

However, these are still early days and Twenty20 cricket is all about building momentum. Jaipur despite some severe setbacks have the ammunition to stage a fightback. Opener Swapnil Asnodkar is due as are the rest in the middle order. With Australian tearaway Shaun Tait and India’s Munaf Patel, the bowling should not go too wrong for too long.

Thursday’s encounter between Jaipur and Bangalore will be high on glamour. Shilpa will no doubt go full throttle to cheer her team while reigning Bollywood queen Deepika Padukone should be seen in the stands too- cheering for Bangalore, who will play their second straight match at home.

Head to Head
 
Played:                      4

Won by Bangalore:     1 (winning % 25.00)

Won by Rajasthan:     3 (winning % 75.00)
 
Approaching milestones
 
- Shane Warne (179 runs + 34 wickets) requires 21 runs to become the first to complete the double of 200 runs and 30 wickets.
 
- Rahul Dravid (663) needs 37 runs to complete 700 runs in the IPL.
 
- Jacques Kallis (154) requires 46 runs to become the first batsman to complete 200 runs in the third edition of the IPL.
 
- In case of a fifty, Kallis would become the first to register a hat-trick of fifties in the present edition.