Rajasthan Royals sit pretty at top of the IPL 2022 points table with six wins under their belt. They were one of the few teams who got the auction strategy bang on but it was only half the job done. The management had the plans in place but they would have meant nothing had the players not performed the way they have so far. A team often labelled as following a one-dimensional approach, have had all bases covered right from the auction table. They had smart buys in Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal and Trent Boult, questionable retention of Yashasvi Jaiswal and oh-so-talked-about buy back of Riyan Parag.
Rajasthan Royals are top of the IPL points after six wins from eight matches played. Image: Sportzpics
For the better part of the tournament so far, Rajasthan have been all about Jos Buttler. The Englishman has led the charge from the front and allowed the remaining batting line-up to kind of bat around him. In the process, gaps, if any, were covered by the Buttler show. It allowed the likes of Devdutt Padikkal to buy some time; Sanju Samson to react to the situation and Shimron Hetmyer to come and apply finishing touches.
In Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna and the spin duo of Ashwin and Chahal, Rajasthan have one of the finest attack in the competition. Potent enough to make inroads on any surface. From the word go, it has been the Buttler show but Rajasthan were proactive to strike the right balance by making some early changes to the composition of the squad and have kept all options open. Even if it means promoting R Ashwin up the order to counter the moving ball in first six or retiring him out to allow a Parag to accelerate towards the end.
Early changes
Jaiswal was retained by RR ahead of the mega auction and the team went aggressively for Padikkal to buy the stylish southpaw for INR7.75 crores. It was a questionable move with Jaiswal being the first-choice opener, retention logic applies, but RR showed that they weren’t in with a rigid mindset. Not at his usual position, Padikkal adapted well but Jaiswal struggled at top. Game No 4, Jaiswal was on the bench and Padikkal was pushed to top of the order – his usual position where he enjoyed a lot of success with RCB in the previous seasons. In Buttler and Padikkal, RR have ticked the left-right box with the right dose of caution (Padikkal) and aggression (Buttler).
The next important piece of the puzzle to address was the fifth bowling option. In the first half of the tournament, RR tried Nathan Coulter-Nile, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Sen, James Neesham (in for injured Boult) and Obed McCoy. This seemed the weak link before Kuldeep, dropped after 1/35 vs LSG (where he was brilliant in the last over vs an on-song Marcus Stoinis) and 1/51 vs Gujarat Titans, made a stunning comeback (4/20) against Royal Challengers Bangalore. All other options managed to play the filler role and lacked bite. Saini leaked runs, so did McCoy and Coulter-Nile. Kuldeep was guilty of going for runs too but he had the X-factor of pace. The ability to rush batsmen up, make something out of nothing, hit the hard lengths consistently and a very calm head under pressure, in the death overs. While Prasidh Krishna is a certain to bowl the final overs, Kuldeep does give the captain to cover-up for a Boult off day and further allows to use the left-arm quick more in the powerplay overs when the ball does a bit.
Spin twins
Yuzvendra Chahal (L) and Ravichandran Ashwin have together picked 25 wickets this season. Chahal is the leading wicket-taker. Image: Sportzpics
Ashwin and Chahal collectively costed RR INR11.5 core (INR5 and INR6.5 crores respectively). After eight games, they have collectively picked 25 wickets and have gone at less than 7.5 per over. Ask any team and they would have loved to have this combination playing for them. With the wickets expected to tire down in the second half of the tournament, they are only expected to get better and make more additions to the wickets tally.
While Ashwin has just picked 7 wickets, compared to Chahal’s 18, but has played his part to perfection. Drying up runs in the middle phase, bowling the difficult overs and sucking life out of an innings. The Ashwin masterclass to get rid of a dangerous Andre Russell will continue to be part of IPL montages going forward. What a ripper it was!
Chahal on the other hand has been the captain’s go-to-bowler. Samson has used him smartly, not afraid to bowl him in the death overs and has relentlessly attacked for wickets with the leggie. Last night was the only game where Chahal went wicketless but the grandmaster is definitely playing the right moves at the moment and will only make life difficult for the batters.
The weak link
Yes, both words read separately. Last night was a classic case of the test of Rajasthan’s middle-order. Thanks to Buttler, it hasn’t faced much heat in the tournament and was yet to make a substantial contribution with the bat. The likes of Hetmyer and Parag were chipping in with useful knocks but ‘substantial’ is the key word here!
Hetmyer wasn’t a concern, but Parag was. The youngster faced a lot of flak on social media for his outings but not many factored in the role he’s being asked to play for the side. The finisher is no ordinary tag to live up to. Ask the likes of MS Dhoni, Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya (for Mumbai Indians)…
Last night, however, was different for both Parag and RR. Top-order in the hut early, Samson out after a brief little masterclass and it was upto the young Parag to steer the ship out of choppy waters. Not only did he steer them out of choppy waters but pushed them to the shore. 140+ on a testing wicket, with a bowling line-up featuring Boult, Prasidh, Chahal and Ashwin, RR were in with more than a chance. Thanks to Parag.
The link in question however is that of the No 3 position. When Buttler gets going, it’s easier to have a Samson or Hetmyer bat up the order and shift to top gear. What happens when he doesn’t? Who do RR turn to then? They tried Karun Nair, only to drop him after a couple of games, where he batted only once. Tried Daryl Mitchell last night and the Kiwi had a really hard time in the middle. Managing just 16 off 24 balls, and not a single boundary. Maybe it’s time to go back to Van Der Dussen, who was dropped after two games, because the Ashwin experiment doesn’t guarantee success and only allows the testing period to pass. Whatever runs come are just bonus!
With most teams sorting their core Playing XI going into the second half of the tournament, it’s important RR sorts a couple of issues. The dish is ready to be served and addition of the right ingredients, in the right quantity, will only enhance the flavour.
Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, IPL Live Score, IPL 2022 schedule, IPL 2022 Points table and Entertainment News. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.