Rajasthan Royals completed a hat-trick of wins to go to the top of the points table as Royal Challengers Bangalore’s struggles continued. For once, it wasn’t a Jos Buttler masterclass behind RR’s win but a superb show by the Indian players. Here are a few burning questions from the contest.
How RCB set up Jos Buttler’s failure
The biggest question facing teams that play Rajasthan Royals this season is how they stop Jos Buttler. The run machine has been street smart with his batting, picking and choosing the right bowlers to go after. Rajasthan’s entire batting template revolves around Buttler batting deep and the fact that he has managed it more often than not means that RR’s batting depth issues have rarely come into the spotlight.
RCB knew they had to get Buttler early to expose Rajasthan’s middle-order earlier than usual and used a bait upfront in Shahbaz Ahmed. Against left-arm orthodox bowlers in IPL, Buttler has an average of 62 and a strike-rate of 145. Why would you throw Shahbaz to Buttler in the first over on a wicket that’s friendly for quicks? It clearly was a bait to force Buttler to try and take on the bowler in the first over.
In the first over in IPL in the last two seasons, Buttler rarely attacks. This is contrary to his approach in 2020 when he struck at a rate of 193 in the first over. In 2021 and 2022, the corresponding strike rates are 88.0 and 81.6 respectively. Buttler didn’t take the bait, but RCB had a backup plan.
They cut off his favourite region on the off side to further put pressure on Buttler. Earlier in the season, when these teams met, David Willey and Mohammed Siraj bowled tight lines and moved the ball around to restrict Buttler.
Here RCB had a packed off-side field and further put the squeeze on him with back of a length deliveries that seamed about. Forced to find room, Buttler played an awkward shot to Hazlewood through the leg-side to be out caught.
Why sending Virat Kohli at the top was an error
Given how Jos Buttler struggled through the innings with movement early on, RCB should have retracted on their move to play Virat Kohli at the top of the order. Kohli is struggling for form and facing up to Trent Boult and Prasidh Krishna, who has been a revelation in the powerplay this season, against the new ball wasn’t going to be easy.
Kohli struggled through his innings with RR setting up two leg side traps for him against Boult’s incoming deliveries. Prasidh, meanwhile, used the extra zip in the surface to bounce him out.
Make no mistake, Kohli’s best position in the RCB setup is indeed when opening the innings. Each of his five IPL tons have come from the top. Kohli averages in excess of 40 and strikes in the mid-130s when opening in the IPL. Given his relative slow down against spin in the middle overs, Kohli should indeed open in most matches, but RCB have got to be smart with it and not throw one of their best batters down the drain by exposing his troubles.
Why Riyan Parag’s knock is evidence of how RR haven’t managed him right
Riyan Parag turned his season around with a 29-ball fifty under pressure. Rajasthan Royals lost the big wicket of Sanju Samson in the 10th over of the innings, and Parag was in to bat early. At 68/4, he had a repair job in his hands, a role Parag has rarely had to play in his career at Rajasthan Royals, where he has been the designated finisher of sorts. Parag’s fifty paved the way for a Rajasthan win, but raises questions on his usage thus far by RR.
Rajasthan Royals middle-order batter Riyan Parag smashed an unbeaten 56 off just 31 deliveries against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Pune. Sportzpics
His last big knock was an unbeaten 26-ball 42 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2020, when he again walked in to bat inside the first 10 overs. In 2019, he hit a half-century against Delhi Capitals after walking in to bat at 30/4 inside the powerplay overs. His scores of 47 in 31 balls against KKR and 43 off 29 against Mumbai in 2019 also came when walking in to bat inside the first 10 overs.
It’s a role that is in sync with what he does at Assam in the domestic tournaments. A regular No.4 in the Assam batting line-up, Parag has consistently been pushed down the order at RR with minimal success. As he showed last night, using him up the order has a lot of upsides and it’s something RR should be trying more often.
Why Kuldeep Sen can make RR attack much more potent
Kuldeep Sen has had a really good start to his T20 career. He defended 15 runs in the final over against Lucknow Super Giants with a rampaging Marcus Stoinis struggling to put bat on ball off three successive deliveries. Kuldeep’s strength is his pace and natural length, which is short of a length. Against RCB, he turned the game in RR’s favour with the wickets of Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell of back to back deliveries.
With Kuldeep in the setup, RR’s bowling attack becomes multi-dimensional and extra difficult to counter. Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep can hit the hard lengths at pace and Trent Boult can swing the new ball around. Prasidh also excels in the first six overs with Ravichandran Ashwin a spin option upfront. Kuldeep can bang it into the pitch in the middle overs with Chahal and Ashwin forming a contrasting spin pair.
Prasidh has started coming into his own in the death with Boult a left-arm option also available in the final overs. Kuldeep can also use his hard lengths effectively in the end overs making RR a complete bowling attack of sorts.
Why Sanju Samson’s approach against Hasaranga was warranted
Sanju Samson has a hideous record against Wanindu Hasaranga in T20 cricket. Before walking in to bat last night, Samson had been dismissed four times in 15 balls. As expected, the RR skipper was countered with Hasaranga from ball one. Samson smashed a four and a six inside the first three balls he faced from Hasaranga to put pressure on the leg-spinner. He then chose to play Hasaranga out that over, the last in the powerplay.
RR’s Sanju Samson gets clean bowled by RCB’s Wanindu Hasaranga during match 39 of IPL 2022 at MCA Stadium, Pune on Tuesday. Sportzpics
When he came on again, Samson was ready with the reverse sweep to counter Hasaranga. He missed both attempts, the second of which saw his off-stump go for a toss as he missed the googly. With three wickets down in the powerplay, there’s a case for Samson to put a leash on his scoring rate and try and play out Hasaranga, an unfavourable matchup. Instead, Samson chose to take the battle head on, an approach that is warranted given his low success rate in playing out Hasaranga in the past. If anything, the mini cameo from Samson ensured Rajasthan weren’t on the backfoot in terms of run rate after he was dismissed.
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