3 changes Rajasthan Royals should make after suffering 3 back-to-back defeats in IPL 2023
Pre-tournament favorites Rajasthan Royals (RR) suddenly find themselves on the verge of an early elimination from IPL 2023. The Royals started the season by registering four victories in their first five matches, but in the next six games, RR managed only one win.
As a result, the Royals are currently fourth in the IPL 2023 points table with 10 points from 11 matches. Their net run rate stands at +0.388. RR's last three league stage matches are against Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Punjab Kings.
RR's most recent defeat came against the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium last night. Despite scoring 214/2 in the first innings, the Royals ended up on the losing side. A night before that, RR suffered an embarrassing nine-wicket loss at the hands of defending champions Gujarat Titans.
Rajasthan also lost their away fixture against Mumbai Indians before that and are on a three-match losing streak right now. With just three league stage matches remaining, RR quickly need to find a way to return to the winning track.
In this listicle now, we will look at the three changes that RR should make to snap their three-match losing streak.
#1 Rajasthan Royals should change their strategy of batting 1st
A majority of the teams have preferred chasing in T20 cricket of late, but for some reason, skipper Sanju Samson has opted to bat first after winning the toss in the last three matches. RR ended up losing each of the three games.
While the batters managed only 119 runs against the Gujarat Titans, they batted brilliantly against the Mumbai Indians and the Sunrisers Hyderabad, scoring a total of more than 200 each in both games.
Before IPL 2023, RR had never lost a game while defending a 200+ score, but now, they have suffered two defeats while doing so. Perhaps, opting to bat second could help RR snap their losing streak.
#2 Obed McCoy out, Trent Boult in
Obed McCoy played his first T20 match since the T20 World Cup 2022 last night for the Rajasthan Royals against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Before the IPL 2023 season started, it was unclear whether he was fit or not.
Even last night, RR used McCoy to bowl one over only. If Trent Boult is fit and available to play, RR should drop McCoy and bring Boult back in the playing XI for their next match against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
#3 Kuldip Yadav out, Navdeep Saini in
Rajasthan Royals surprisingly gave the 19th over of the SRH innings to uncapped pacer Kuldip Yadav last night. Glenn Phillips whacked 22 runs off the first four balls bowled by him, and those three sixes and a four proved to be the difference-maker in the end.
RR have a capped Indian pacer like Navdeep Saini sitting on the bench right now. Saini has played only one game so far, where he leaked 34 runs in two overs. However, since he has more experience than Kuldip, RR should consider giving Saini more opportunities to play.