IPL 2019: Rajasthan Royals mid-season analysis
Rajasthan Royals have had a poor season so far with them currently placed seventh on the points table with four points and an NRR of -0.587.
Their season started off in controversial fashion when Jos Buttler was mankaded by Ravichandran Ashwin in their loss to Kings XI Punjab, and a century from Sanju Samson in their second match was not enough to stop Sunrisers Hyderabad from winning despite managing to take late wickets.
A poor spell of death bowling from Jaydev Unadkat saw him concede 18 runs off the last three balls of the innings against Chennai Super Kings in a match that saw Rajasthan lose by 8 runs. Their first win of the season followed with a seven-wicket win against Royal Challengers Bangalore with a ball to spare.
Poor batting and bowling performances saw them lose to Kolkata Knight Riders with more than six overs to spare in a match that significantly damaged their NRR, and was then followed by a last-ball loss against Chennai Super Kings in Jaipur in a match marred by an umpiring controversy. An improved bowling performance was their only positive from the Chennai match.
A ruthless batting performance from Jos Buttler helped them win their next match against Mumbai Indians despite some late wickets.
Batting
Jos Buttler is currently their leading batsman with 288 runs, including three half-centuries and a strike rate of 153.19. Steven Smith, Sanju Samson, and captain Ajinkya Rahane follow with 183,177, and 175 runs respectively, with Samson having played only five matches and scoring 102 of his runs in one of them.
Smith's runs have come at a strike rate of 107.51, reflective of his role as stabilizing presence and his recuperation from elbow surgery.
Ben Stokes is the only other batsman with over 100 runs but has not had the desired impact that his team is looking for with bat and ball. His death bowling skills have come under scrutiny following the second loss to Chennai Super Kings.
Bowling
Wrist-spinner Shreyas Gopal leads their bowling with 8 wickets and an economy of 6.41, followed by Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes with 7 and 6 wickets respectively. However, Stokes currently has an economy rate of 11.22 from six matches, prompting the team management to replace him with Liam Livingstone in their match against Mumbai Indians.
Jaydev Unadkat's four wickets have come at an average of 45.75 but he was used out of place in the death overs. He is ideally used either during the powerplay or middle overs alongside Dhawal Kulkarni and Archer, with Archer more suited to bowl during the death overs.
Despite their seventh place standing on the points table, Rajasthan has played good cricket in patches. The key for them is to put together a few complete team performances during their remaining seven matches.
In order to stay in contention for the playoffs, they would have to win at least five of their remaining seven games. They would have to do that keeping in mind that Buttler, Stokes, Smith, and (potentially) Archer will be called by England and Australia for World Cup preparations. Ashton Turner and Manan Vohra are useful batsmen to make up for their absences while Ish Sodhi could be considered for a few matches in place of Archer.
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