The Rajasthan Royals started off their Indian Premier League campaign with successive victories, and then lost steam midway. Now they have huffed and puffed their way into the playoffs, where the real challenge lies.
Shane Watson coming to form with a rollicking century will galvanise the side, but their bowling, barring Chris Morris, was found wanting at the Brabourne Stadium on Saturday.
The Royals beat Kolkata Knight Riders by nine runs, largely due to Morris’ discipline with the ball. But Paddy Upton, Rahul Dravid and Co will have to iron out many chinks in the battered armour.
Reliving Shane Watson of his captaincy from the Rajasthan Royals’ previous game has reaped dividends. Captaincy has never been easy for Watson, even while playing for Australia. Watson played with no restrictions, his shots came freely. He never showed doubt while attacking. He got down to the faster deliveries early and step down to the spinners. He was aided by the wicket too. Hard and offering copious bounce, the ball was flowing off the bat with ease. He did not get carried away but waited patiently to put away deliveries that were in his zone, and stayed unbeaten.
Watson is gifted with talent and riddled with inconsistency. But show faith in him, he delivers when needed the most. Watson took the challenge by the scruff of its neck, and prevailed. It is this very same cold-blooded aggression he will need to display in the playoffs if Rajasthan need to win their second IPL crown.
Rahane bounces back
Ajinkya Rahane’s scores weren’t coming in as frequently as they did in the first phase of the league, and it looked like he set himself for the big one on Saturday. He was timing the ball from the word go. The deft cuts and sparkling drives were that of player brimming with confidence.
But his run out halted a speeding train. Watson displayed some selfishness pulling out of a second run midway, leaving Rahane stranded. Rahane had later called it a crime during a pitch side interview, rightly so. At this level, such moments highlight the rare lack of coordination between batsmen on the field. Sometimes it proves too dear.
The opening partnership will be Rajasthan’s biggest plus from this game. Rahane and Watson have contrasting styles, yet when the runs keep flowing they complement the other. Watson relies on brute force while Rahane thrives on timing and placement. Their style of play forces rivals captains to make constant field changes.
The preparedness of Rajasthan was evident, most of the batsmen were padded-up in the dugout from the first over just in case the team decided to take a sudden gamble.
Steve Smith on a normal day would have dismissed a full toss delivery past the boundary line. But his innings came to a premature and soft end. It won’t be a matter of surprise if Smith admonished himself back in the dressing room for gifting his wicket off a juicy full toss. The Australian may not wear his emotions on his sleeves often, but such shot selections will definitely spur him to make it count in the next innings.
Staying on course
The 80-run opening partnership (in just seven overs) helped Rajasthan stay on course as they lost crucial wickets in the middle overs. If a partnership was forged in the period, the Royals could have well added another 20 runs in their total.
Sanju Samson yet again got carried away after finding a boundary, while the James Faulker is yet to show up this season. No boundary is out of bounds for Faulkner, but he is yet to find groove with bat and ball.
The saving grace
Defending 200, Morris gave away just 23 runs in his four overs, and more importantly took four wickets. The South African used seam position to gain movement off a rock solid pitch, and bowled with tact. He used the short ball to good effect, scalping KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir early. Steve Smith used Morris at various junctures, where the game was slipping away. And Morris struck every time with wickets and stemmed the run flow.
But his teammates were a poor contrast. Faulkner allowed Umesh Yadav to make him pedestrian, that should bring in a lot of introspection. Watson, Dhawal Kulkarni and Stuart Binny used the short ball regularly. But at their military-medium pace it was only easy offerings for the opposition
Failed gamble
The Royals took a gamble in selecting Barinder Saran. The left-arm pacer from Punjab was given his debut since he can swing the ball back in to the right-hander. But Saran’s nerves were all over the place as he turned out to be the side’s biggest liability. Affording such a risk at this point is not a prudent move.
With 18 wides and five no balls, the Royals bowling helped KKR inch closer. Misfields too ended up as boundaries. If they need to last longer in the tournament, these freebies should stop.
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Shane Watson coming to form with a rollicking century will galvanise the side, but their bowling, barring Chris Morris, was found wanting at the Brabourne Stadium on Saturday.
The Royals beat Kolkata Knight Riders by nine runs, largely due to Morris’ discipline with the ball. But Paddy Upton, Rahul Dravid and Co will have to iron out many chinks in the battered armour.
Reliving Shane Watson of his captaincy from the Rajasthan Royals’ previous game has reaped dividends. Captaincy has never been easy for Watson, even while playing for Australia. Watson played with no restrictions, his shots came freely. He never showed doubt while attacking. He got down to the faster deliveries early and step down to the spinners. He was aided by the wicket too. Hard and offering copious bounce, the ball was flowing off the bat with ease. He did not get carried away but waited patiently to put away deliveries that were in his zone, and stayed unbeaten.
Watson is gifted with talent and riddled with inconsistency. But show faith in him, he delivers when needed the most. Watson took the challenge by the scruff of its neck, and prevailed. It is this very same cold-blooded aggression he will need to display in the playoffs if Rajasthan need to win their second IPL crown.
Rahane bounces back
Ajinkya Rahane’s scores weren’t coming in as frequently as they did in the first phase of the league, and it looked like he set himself for the big one on Saturday. He was timing the ball from the word go. The deft cuts and sparkling drives were that of player brimming with confidence.
But his run out halted a speeding train. Watson displayed some selfishness pulling out of a second run midway, leaving Rahane stranded. Rahane had later called it a crime during a pitch side interview, rightly so. At this level, such moments highlight the rare lack of coordination between batsmen on the field. Sometimes it proves too dear.
The opening partnership will be Rajasthan’s biggest plus from this game. Rahane and Watson have contrasting styles, yet when the runs keep flowing they complement the other. Watson relies on brute force while Rahane thrives on timing and placement. Their style of play forces rivals captains to make constant field changes.
The preparedness of Rajasthan was evident, most of the batsmen were padded-up in the dugout from the first over just in case the team decided to take a sudden gamble.
Steve Smith on a normal day would have dismissed a full toss delivery past the boundary line. But his innings came to a premature and soft end. It won’t be a matter of surprise if Smith admonished himself back in the dressing room for gifting his wicket off a juicy full toss. The Australian may not wear his emotions on his sleeves often, but such shot selections will definitely spur him to make it count in the next innings.
Staying on course
The 80-run opening partnership (in just seven overs) helped Rajasthan stay on course as they lost crucial wickets in the middle overs. If a partnership was forged in the period, the Royals could have well added another 20 runs in their total.
Sanju Samson yet again got carried away after finding a boundary, while the James Faulker is yet to show up this season. No boundary is out of bounds for Faulkner, but he is yet to find groove with bat and ball.
The saving grace
Defending 200, Morris gave away just 23 runs in his four overs, and more importantly took four wickets. The South African used seam position to gain movement off a rock solid pitch, and bowled with tact. He used the short ball to good effect, scalping KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir early. Steve Smith used Morris at various junctures, where the game was slipping away. And Morris struck every time with wickets and stemmed the run flow.
But his teammates were a poor contrast. Faulkner allowed Umesh Yadav to make him pedestrian, that should bring in a lot of introspection. Watson, Dhawal Kulkarni and Stuart Binny used the short ball regularly. But at their military-medium pace it was only easy offerings for the opposition
Failed gamble
The Royals took a gamble in selecting Barinder Saran. The left-arm pacer from Punjab was given his debut since he can swing the ball back in to the right-hander. But Saran’s nerves were all over the place as he turned out to be the side’s biggest liability. Affording such a risk at this point is not a prudent move.
With 18 wides and five no balls, the Royals bowling helped KKR inch closer. Misfields too ended up as boundaries. If they need to last longer in the tournament, these freebies should stop.