A late resurgence wasn’t enough for Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals to rescue their season, with both teams sustaining knock-out blows in Sunday’s double-header in the 2020 Indian Premier League.
Comprehensive losses to Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders respectively means the curtains have come down for good on unfulfilling campaigns for both KXIP and Rajasthan.
A poor first-half of the campaign has cost both sides dear and a failure to find the ideal playing XI combination in time has been the root of their woes.
Below, we look at where it all went wrong for the two teams over the course of the last month and a half in the UAE.
RAJASTHAN ROYALS
No support for lone wolf Archer
Image credit – SPORTZPICS FOR BCCI.
It is not a far-fetched claim to exalt Jofra Archer as the bowler of the tournament, but it is telling that Rajasthan have still performed so poorly as a bowling unit. Archer’s 20 wickets have come at an economy-rate of less than seven runs an over and the England pacer has provided an early breakthrough for his side without fail throughout the campaign.
However, all the good work the fast bowler has done individually has been undone by some shoddy bowling at the other end. The rest of Rajasthan’s pacers have claimed only 21 wickets among themselves, with their combined economy-rate touching almost 11 runs an over.
The likes of Jaydev Unadkat, Ankit Rajpoot, Tom Curran, Andrew Tye and Varun Aaron have all been wasteful when given the opportunity, and have allowed the opposition to score freely. That leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal also had a below par season has only compounded matters for the Royals.
Overseas batsmen blow hot and cold
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Rajasthan arguably had the strongest overseas quartet in the IPL, with a terrific English trio being supplemented by the world’s best Test batsman. Unfortunately, none of the foreign stars apart from Archer have performed consistently over the course of the season.
Steve Smith started off on fire with back-to-back half-centuries, but his form fell away from a cliff towards the second half of the campaign. The Aussie’s lack of returns left the Royals severely handicapped and things only went from bad to worse due to Jos Buttler losing his usual reliability.
Having been Rajasthan’s saviour with the bat for the past two editions, Buttler was uncharacteristically subdued in the UAE barring a couple of big knocks. With Buttler’s mercurial form, Royals were hoping that Ben Stokes’ belated arrival in the competition would set the ball rolling.
Stokes’ good form did arrive in the IPL eventually, but only after five listless displays.
Weak domestic roster
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While Rajasthan’s overseas contingent is an enviable one, the same cannot be said of their domestic Indian roster. The fact that they did not have a single full India international in their line-up coming into the tournament was always going to hold them back.
Among their Indian players, the only notable displays came from Sanju Samson and a surprising turn from Rahul Tewatia. Even Samson and Tewatia blew hot and cold too frequently, with their good performances coming in a handful of matches.
The rest of their Indian players barely did anything of note and left the Royals thoroughly exposed in the UAE. Rajasthan’s squad of late has been heavily reliant on their overseas stars, and they have at times masked the shortcomings in the domestic roster.
With the foreign players misfiring too this time, there was simply no hiding space for the Indian contingent. Big changes will be needed on the domestic front if Rajasthan are to really make the most of their overseas firepower.
KINGS XI PUNJAB
Maxwell misery
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To do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result is the definition of insanity, and Kings XI have only themselves to blame for giving Glenn Maxwell such a long rope.
The Australian was a big ticket purchase for the franchise and big things were expected from him in the UAE after he gave the 2019 edition a miss. Unfortunately, the Maxwell plane failed to lift off in 2020 despite the misfiring Aussie being given umpteen chances.
In the 106 balls he faced over the course of the campaign, Maxwell was able to collect just 108 runs without registering a single six. KXIP continued to bank on the maverick’s ability to single-handedly change the course of the game in the matter of a few overs. That moment just didn’t arrive for the franchise and Maxwell in 13 matches.
There were a couple of bright moments with the ball for the all-rounder, though they weren’t enough to warrant a permanent overseas slot in the XI. Punjab could have been better served by handing that slot to another overseas player like Mujeeb ur Rahman or James Neesham.
Gayle’s belated inclusion
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It came as no surprise that Kings XI looked like a vastly superior outfit once Chris Gayle was drafted into the playing XI. The T20 stalwart was left to warm the bench in the first half of the tournament despite his stellar record in the format.
While a case of food poisoning did momentarily delay his inclusion in the XI at the halfway mark, Gayle provided some much needed impetus to Punjab’s batting. The Jamaican averaged over 40 with the bat and struck a staggering total of 23 sixes in just 210 deliveries faced.
Three half-centuries came off his bat in only 7 games, including a brilliant 99 in a losing cause against Rajasthan Royals. He also played his part in Kings XI’s thrilling Super Over win over Mumbai Indians by striking a crucial six off Trent Boult.
With Gayle in the XI, Punjab won five out of seven games. Their record without him was just a solitary win in seven matches.
KL Rahul’s lack of intent
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Punjab may be out of the competition but KL Rahul still remains on course to end up with the Purple Cap for his prolific season. The Kings XI skipper’s 670 runs include a century and five half-centuries, and those are sensational numbers by all means.
However, the bigger picture shows that rarely have Rahul’s big displays helped Punjab’s cause. Four of his fifty-plus scores including the century have come in KXIP defeats. His overall strike-rate in the tournament was less than 130 and the lack of intent has been questioned at several moments.
More recently, his nearly run-a-ball 46 proved costly in the defeat against Rajasthan. Kings XI ended up with a total of 185 despite losing only four wickets, and it was a total which was chased down by the Royals with nearly three overs to spare.
Rahul’s strike-rate in the match was 112.19, while six other batsmen across the two sides went at a rate of more than 150. Rahul’s consistency cannot be questioned for sure, though his intent at the crease certainly can be.
