"Just need to keep their foot behind the line"- Graeme Swann on Rajasthan Royals' dip in form in IPL 2023
Former England off-spinner Graeme Swann has been pretty vocal about Rajasthan Royals (RR) being his favorite team in the IPL. However, the Royals haven't had a great run of games in the IPL 2023 season of late.
Sanju Samson and co. have lost five games out of their last six and suddenly find themselves in what could be a potential 'do-or-die' situation. Swann shed light on the costly mistakes that RR have made, like Sandeep Sharma overstepping on the last ball against the Sunrisers Hyderabad and letting the win slip from their grasp.
Responding to a Sportskeeda query in a media interaction, Graeme Swann, who is also an IPL expert for Jio Cinema, explained that while Jos Buttler's return to form is great news for Rajasthan Royals, they will need to pull up their socks. He said:
"They're in the doldrums, aren't they? Pretty strange that they are in this situation after making such a strong start to the tournament. I feel they are two wins away from the playoffs and could have easily gotten those two wins in these last few games. They're just finding ways to lose games.
"With Jos Buttler back in form, I think they will be okay, but they just need to keep their foot behind the line. Rajasthan will be back. Just make sure they rally around Sandeep Sharma, get his foot behind the line and make sure there are no no-balls."
Ravichandran Ashwin tries to be the centrepiece of everything: Graeme Swann
Graeme Swann also spoke about how well veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has performed for the Royals. He feels Ashwin always believes in adding new tricks to his repertoire which always keeps the latter potentially a step ahead of the batter.
On this, Swann stated:
"The thing with Ravichandran is that although he has been on top of his game for so long, he has never rested on his laurels. He is always trying something new and getting ahead of the minds of the batters. He tries to be the centrepiece of everything and it's very important for a spinner to have that mindset. With the impact player rule now, who's to say that he doesn't have another five years in him?"
Graeme Swann has also been pleasantly surprised with the number of quality Indian leg-spinners playing in the IPL 2023 season. He added:
"I can't believe how lucky India is to have so many quality leg spinners at the moment. The finger spinners aren't many, but they have been performing well. Ravichandran Ashwin has been superb. Moeen Ali is the most underrated bowled in the IPL. I think finger spinners need to work on variations like carrom ball, top-spinner, etc. But we will be back, finger spinners will be back."
The Rajasthan Royals will face the Kolkata Knight Riders in their next game before playing Royal Challengers Bangalore in Jaipur on May 14. Given the situation of the points table, this encounter could have a lot of bearing on the future of both teams this season.