IPL 2019: 3 mistakes that have cost Rajasthan Royals this season
Rajasthan Royals have not had a very good start to their IPL 2019 season. They have lost their opening three matches to find themselves in the bottom half of the points table, and need to make quick changes to get their campaign back on track.
RR need to win as many matches as possible before their foreign players like Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Steve Smith and maybe Jofra Archer leave for national duty in the second half of the IPL.
They have had a few positives in their first 3 matches, but they have also made a few mistakes at crucial stages which have ended up costing the side dearly. Here, we look at the 3 key mistakes that have cost Rajasthan Royals so far:
1. Poor bowling by pacers in the death overs
The biggest cause for worry for the Rajasthan Royals has been the form of their pacers. Barring Jofra Archer, none of the quick men have shown the ability to take wickets or bowl economically at crucial stages of the match; they have time and again allowed the opposition batsmen to escape being put under pressure.
The trio of Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat and Ben Stokes have been in the firing line of the opposition both in the powerplay and the death overs. Unadkat in particular has been very unreliable, and the fans have repeatedly called for the axing of the player from the team. He has picked up just 2 wickets in the 3 matches and has conceded 124 runs in just 11 overs, at a dreadful economy rate of 11.27 runs per over.
Kulkarni and Stokes have also not fared well as they have figures of 2/107 in 11 overs and 4/118 in 10 overs respectively.
Rajasthan Royals cannot replace Stokes because of his all-round abilities but would hope that he improves his figures in the coming matches. However, it is time to replace Unadkat and try maybe Varun Aaron in his place.