While I wouldn’t go as far as to describe myself as a fully-fledged supporter of the Rajasthan Royals (RR), I have always followed their progress more closely than any other franchise. This goes back to the inaugural IPL in which an unfancied Rajasthan side that included England’s Dimitri Mascarenhas emerged victorious from. Shane Warne, the long-time scourge of England’s batsmen was also involved in that team and is now part of the coaching staff at RR. While as an Englishman it’s always difficult to like an Australian cricketer especially one who caused us such misery over the years, you have to admire the way that Warne has maintained himself as one of the best cricketing minds in the world even after his retirement from playing and he is another reason that I always look forward to seeing what Rajasthan have to offer.
A win in their final game saw Rajasthan Royals (RR) sneak into the playoffs during the 2018 tournament. Having lost 6 of their opening 9 games RR looked to be down and out but thanks in large part to a DiMaggio like streak from Jos Buttler whose promotion to open the batting proved the masterstroke that reignited the Royal’s late charge they managed to reach the Quarter Finals. Perhaps had Buttler been available for that knockout game (England required him back home in preparation for the summer) then they might have been able to go even further!
Smith, Rahane and Stokes all with a point to prove
Steve Smith has been retained by the Royals despite being ineligible to play in the 2018 tournament following the ball-tampering farce that occurred just weeks before the last IPL began. We will have to see how this episode that led to a yearlong ban and him being stripped of the Australian captaincy will affect Smith and his game. How will the fans react to him? How will the media treat him? What will be the attitude of his teammates towards a man caught cheating in such a manner?
In fact, the way that players from different parts of the world interact and gel together (or not) is what makes these kind of franchise competitions all the more interesting. Smith will be sharing a dressing room with England’s Ben Stokes, the 2 of them having been involved in many titanic Ashes battles over the years, a contest that is set to be reignited just a few months after the conclusion of this tournament. If anything Stokes disappointing form with bat in hand since returning from his own issues with the authorities will be exactly the kind of thing that Smith will hope to avoid. Stokes was a big money buy for RR last year but he generally failed to deliver. They tried batting him in pretty much every position and circumstance possible but the fact of the matter is that he hasn’t been striking the ball with any authority all year. If ever there was a player who needed to rediscover his mojo it is Ben Stokes. Can working alongside Warne and the gung-ho nature if T20 cricket help him back to form? England and Rajasthan fans alike will be hoping that 2019 is a better year for their talismanic all rounder.
The final perhaps most pressing concern for RR is the form and perhaps suitability to the T20 of their captain Ajinke Rahane. Rahane is a fine player and stalwart of the Indian Test side and between him and Virat Kohli, India have few other batsmen who have proved themselves capable of adapting to conditions outside of the sub-continent. However, this is T20 cricket and Rahane’s lack of hitting power and inability to rotate the strike cost RR in several games last year. That the league considers him a marquee player is something of a mystery to me given the fact that he can’t get close to the India T20 and ODI sides despite India having been desperate for a man who could steady the ship at number 4. We have seen the likes of Kane Williamson and Joe Root who are batsmen in the same mold as Rahane be successful it this format and even the great Virat Kohli relies more on touch than slogging. Can Rahane emulate the performances of those players and become an advantage to his side as opposed to a millstone around the Royal's necks?
English Pride
Alongside the faltering Stokes will be fellow Englishmen Jos Buttler and Jorfa Archer. I say English but in the case of Archer he was actually born and raised in Barbados and is now in the process of waiting a couple more years until he has served his residency requirements and can play for England. To say that I’m excited about the prospect of this guy being part of the England attack is an understatement. If there is another bowler in world cricket who can generate more pace from such an efficient action then I’d like to see him play! With Anderson and Broad nearing the ends of their career England are in desperate need of replacements as well as for the kind of raw pace that can take wickets on any surface not just the seam friendly wickets at home.
Then there is Buttler, a man whose career looked to be drifting towards that of a one-day specialist but who since his Test recall in May 2018 has been England’s most consistent batsman. It was undoubtedly his run of 5 half centuries in a row ( a record for a non-Indian player in the tournament) in last year’s IPL including match-winning knocks against Kings XI, CSK and Mumbai Indians that pretty much single-handedly dragged his side into the final 4, that convinced new chairman of selectors Ed Smith that Buttler must play for England again. I had been arguing the same myself in a series of blogs I wrote on Steemit in the Spring of last year. It’s difficult to think of many more devastating and yet versatile batsmen in world cricket at the moment. Buttler is equally adept at smashing bowlers over their heads or playing dainty little ramps over the keeper. He can open the batting as was the case during that successful run in 2018 or crunch it late in the innings. He is in no uncertain terms a match winner and a man that any cricket lover would pay good money to watch play.
More than just the stars!
Beyond the big names mentioned above Rajasthan also have some very good and largely unheralded cricketers on their books.
When Sanju Sampson is on form he looks like a potential world beater! He has won a single T20 cap for India that came way back in 2015 at the tender age of 21 and since then he's struggled to get a look in. With the huge amount of talent that India have at their disposal, this is perhaps not that bigger a surprise because competition for places at the top table is fierce! Sampson's biggest problem at present is maintaining a run of good form. He started last season's IPL impressively and then fell away at about the same time that Buttler was finding his grove. Is that just coincidence or was he trying to keep up with RR's main man? In fact, the only time he passed 50 in his last 9 IPL matches was the knockout game against KKR in which Buttler wasn't available to play. If RR can get both Sampson and Buttler on song at the same time then they are going to be very difficult to resist!
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Watch Sanju Sampson take apart some pretty poor bowling from KKR on his way to 50 in last year's IPL
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I was also impressed last year by Krishnappa Gowtham who at the age of 30 was playing his debut season in the IPL. Coming in to bat at the death, his knocks can be described as brief yet brutal. 33 from 11 balls against Mumbai and 13 from 4 balls against CSK were both match winning innings. He also scored late runs against RCB to give RR a higher than par score batting first and then knocked over Kohli opening the bowling with his fast off-breaks. A big man with a big talent that has been realised quite late in his career, he offers the Royals an excellent option as a finisher, particularly if they wish to keep Buttler up the order.
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Watch as Krishnappa Gowtham's mishit even manages to carry for 6 over Long-Off. He's a strong boy!
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Rahul Tripathi is another name to look out for and he will be looking to build on a fairly disappointing first campaign with RR. His best innings last year came in the Royal’s final group game which given the circumstances was essentially a knock out match against RCB. With Buttler and Stokes already on a plane back to England, Tripathi stepped up and crunched an unbeaten 80 runs to lead his side into the Semi-Finals. Given that Rajasthan will find themselves in a similar situation this year when Buttler, Stokes and potentially Smith are all recalled for international duty then it will become essential that players like Samson, Gowtham and Tripathi can step up to the plate and become match winners.
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Watch Rahul Tripathi smoke one miles back into the stand while playing for Pune in the 2017 IPL
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Best 11 as it stands and areas for improvement
1.Buttler
2.Tripathi
3. Smith
4. Samson
5. Stokes
6. Rahane
7. Gowtham
8. Archer
9. Lomror
10. Gopal
11. Kulkarni
Jaydev Unadka cost RR the princely sum of 11.5 Core in last year’s auction but an underwhelming first season saw him cut from the squad alongside Aussie import Ben Laughlin, leaving the Royal’s very light on the fast bowling front.I've read rumours on other social media platforms that RR might just look to buy back Unadka albeit at a lower price than this time last year. Is that allowed?
They may also look to bring in a left-arm option to add a little variety to what otherwise looks like a decent unit. Perhaps the Fizz who was released by Mumbai Indians would make a good addition to the squad? Elsewhere Mohammad Shami is surely worth someone taking a punt on after his return to fitness in the last 6 months or so.
Ish Sodhi is a more than capable wrist spinner and is only left on the bench as a result of the foreign player restrictions. Darcy Short has also been dropped after he failed to adapt to the slower pitches of the sub-continent so RR may look to bring in some added firepower to give themselves options at the top of the order.
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