Rajasthan Royals’ hopes of making the play-offs of the 2020 Indian Premier League looked grim as they took on defending champions Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi. The prospect looked even bleaker once Hardik Pandya’s stunning assault powered Mumbai to an imposing total of 195 at the halfway point.
As he had done for England last year, up stepped Ben Stokes in Rajasthan’s hour of need. His superbly crafted hundred, along with a fine half-century from Sanju Samson, ultimately turned a daunting run chase into a walk in the park for the Royals.
Winning with nearly two overs to spare against arguably the strongest bowling attack in the IPL was not in the script if Rajasthan’s fluctuating form this season was anything to go by. However, Stokes is a generational talent who comes up clutch more than any other player in the sport.
A late arrival to the IPL, the England star shone on Sunday after rusty displays in five previous outings. His crucial turn at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium has handed Rajasthan’s play-off ambitions a desperately needed lifeline.
Mathematically, Steve Smith’s men can still finish in the top-four if they win their two remaining games in hand. Should they manage to pull off the required victories, the Royals will also need results elsewhere to go their way. Their chances have further been handicapped by a negative net run-rate which could ultimately end up being the decisive factor.
Image credit – SPORTZPICS for BCCI.
The reality is that Stokes’ heroics against Mumbai have come too late for Rajasthan and could end up just being a mere footnote in a sorry campaign.
If Rajasthan do predictably miss out on the play-offs, they will have only themselves to blame. There has been a series of errors on the team management’s part which is likely to prove costly at the finish line.
Sunday’s win will stand as a vindication of Rajasthan’s baffling strategy of persisting with Stokes in an opening role. A broken clock is right twice a day and it cannot be ignored that the ploy proved to be a failure in five previous innings. Why a grafter like Stokes has been shoehorned as an opener remains unclear, and even that is only the tip of the iceberg composed of several baffling decisions.
Twelve games into their campaign, Rajasthan are yet to figure out their strongest playing XI. They have constantly chopped and changed the composition of their squad, and will do so again in the next fixture after the mauling handed out to pacer Ankit Rajpoot.
Players have been consistently played out of position and the results have inevitably suffered. Robin Uthappa was used as in the middle-order at the start of the campaign, even when most of his success in previous IPL editions had come as an opener. His wretched run of form in the new position prompted a change in heart, and it is no surprise that Uthappa has looked infinitely better since being promoted to open the innings.
Meanwhile, Jos Buttler has been plucked out of his opening spot to make way for Stokes’ promotion despite enjoying tremendous success in the role for Rajasthan previously. The right-hander is now being utilised as a finisher, a role he also performs in England’s limited-overs set up.
Same has been the case with Smith, who started the tournament with two fine half-centuries as an opener. A string of poor displays subsequently has seen the Australian return to the familiar role of playing anchor at No3. In both positions, the results have been mixed for the Royals skipper.
This constant shuffling of the pack and positions has not helped Rajasthan’s cause, and explain why their form has fallen off so drastically after starting the IPL 2020 with back-to-back victories.
While the management off the field has been average at best, the leadership on the pitch hasn’t been exemplary either. There have been a couple of close contests which have not gone Rajasthan’s way and the outcome could have been different if better sense had prevailed.
Image credit – SPORTZPICS FOR BCCI.
Smith’s decision to not hand Jofra Archer the penultimate over in the clash against RCB was a poor one, with the Royals paying a heavy price after AB de Villiers’ assault on Jaydev Unadkat. Small details matter a lot in a tournament as competitive as the IPL, and Rajasthan could be left to rue what might have been come the end of the campaign.
Inconsistency has been a feature of Rajasthan ever since they captured the inaugural IPL title in 2008 and few expected them to go far in the UAE at the start of the 2020 edition. Yet, it is hard to digest that a team with arguably the strongest overseas core is languishing in the bottom half of the table.
The domestic roster might be a weak one compared to other franchises, but Rajasthan’s foreign contingent is an enviable one. In Smith, they have the world’s leading Test batsman of the generation. Meanwhile, Buttler is the best power-hitter in limited-overs cricket. Stokes needs no further validation as the best all-rounder in the business, while Archer is an all-time great white-ball pacer in the making.
With these four aces in their pack, anything short of a play-off qualification should be construed as a failure for the Royals. It is their misfortune that only Archer has really justified his reputation in the ongoing campaign.
The England fast-bowler is having a stellar individual season and has had just the one-off game so far. However, he has been left to carry the bowling attack on his back with no adequate support from the rest of the bowlers.
Smith and Buttler have blown hot and cold too often for Rajasthan’s liking, while Stokes has only come good most recently. Although there still exists a slim possibility of a miraculous escape, Rajasthan will have squandered a fine collection of overseas players if they miss out on the top-four.
Should the inevitable come to pass in a week’s time or so, the team management will have some tough questions to answer.
