Liam Livingstone looking to rediscover spectacular summer form for Rajasthan Royals in IPL
Watch Liam Livingstone and Rajasthan Royals play Chennai Super Kings in IPL on Sky Sports Cricket on Saturday; Livingstone has had a quiet time for Royals but was scintillating in England during the summer with a record hundred and glut of sixes, including a monster hit out of Headingley
Friday 1 October 2021 07:01, UK
Rajasthan Royals are yet to see the best of Liam Livingstone.
Since the Indian Premier League resumed in the UAE earlier this month, the England batter has made scores of 25, one, four and six.
Those single-figure returns came in defeats to Delhi Capitals, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore, results which have severely dented Rajasthan's play-off aspirations.
The Royals need something to ignite them against already-qualified Chennai on Saturday and Livingstone's spectacular English summer suggests he could be the man, despite his lean trot so far in the UAE.
This is the player who thumped an England-record 42-ball hundred in a T20 international against Pakistan at Trent Bridge in July, an innings comprising nine sixes and six fours.
Two days later, Livingstone clobbered one of the biggest sixes you will ever see, clearing the Emerald Stand at Emerald Headingley as he deposited the ball into the rugby ground behind.
It wasn't just in an England shirt that Livingstone flourished, with the 28-year-old also topping the run-scoring charts in The Hundred while playing for beaten finalists Birmingham Phoenix, amassing 348, over 100 more than nearest challenger Ben Duckett of Welsh Fire.
He trumped the nine sixes in an innings he had smoked in that 42-ball ton against Pakistan with 10 in a 40-ball 92 against Northern Superchargers, including three in four deliveries off David Willey. In total in The Hundred, Livingstone nailed 27 sixes in nine knocks.
It hasn't yet happened for him in a Rajasthan jersey. The batter has played eight innings for Royals - four in 2019 and four over the last few weeks - with a top-score of 44.
He withdrew from the opening leg of this season in India due to bubble fatigue - but he did return to England with a key addition to his kit bag, namely one of Royals team-mate Riyan Parag's bats.
Livingstone said recently. "He wanted one of my cricket bags and I wanted one of his bats. We did a little trade and I've been using it in white-ball cricket all summer. So maybe I owe Riyan for all the sixes that I've been hitting over the last couple of months."
Livingstone has struck just one IPL six so far this season - a meaty slog-sweep off Punjab Kings quick Arshdeep Singh - but it shouldn't take too much for him to get back blasting maximums.
Still, if he has a quiet outing against high-flying Chennai in Abu Dhabi this weekend, then perhaps we can rely on Super Kings star Moeen Ali to smash the sixes?
Only Moeen's Phoenix team-mate Livingstone managed more maximums than him in The Hundred, while in the IPL this term, Ali has whacked 15 after being given a settled spot at No 3.
England will be hoping Moeen and Livingstone both fire at a ground where Eoin Morgan's men play a T20 World Cup game against a qualifier - potentially Scotland - on October 27.
Watch Rajasthan Royals take on Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League, live on Sky Sports Cricket (via the red button) from 2.50pm on Saturday.
