Rajasthan Royals:The team that did most right
The fever surrounding the Indian Premier League has subsided; it doesn’t catch the fancy of the audiences like it used to. Controversies and allegations of fixing aren’t helping it either. But still some franchises have a connect with their fans which is unmistakable. Win or lose, these fans rally behind their team unflinchingly; the Rajasthan Royals are one among them. They not only have the support of fans in their native state, but also have a sizable number of supporters outside. If there is one team which has caught my attention like no other, it would be the Rajasthan Royals.
A team consisting mainly of Ranji level players led by the ever effervescent Rahul Dravid, has delivered the goods on most occasions than not. Recently retired, Rahul Dravid has proved that he still has what it takes to make an impact in a shorter format of a top flight tournament. Rahane and Dravid have shown that T20 is not just about the power hitters like Gayle, but also about temperament and proper cricketing shots. Rahane must definitely be the find of the tournament. I think he has immensely benefited from having Dravid as his opening partner. His knocks in the league have firmly put him back on the selector’s radar. So what makes this team different from the 8 other teams in this big carnival called the IPL? For me, it has to be the tremendous self-belief shown by the inexperienced, yet talented youngsters and the faith reposed by their captain in them. The campaign of the double R’s has so far been largely reliant on the opening pair of Dravid and Rahane. Not surprisingly, they have been the best opening pair of this season and the only unchanged pair of the current season. The middle order consisting of Shah, Hodge, Goswami, Menaria, Botha and lately Watson has performed reasonably well to build on the foundation provided by their opening pair. Credit must be given to the team management and the captain for encouraging loads of domestic talent in this format where the margin for error is negligible.
Be it opening the bowling with a little known left arm spinner called Ankeet Chavan, or not hesitating to throw the ball to Stuart Binny when just 8 runs were required with Dhoni still at the crease, Dravid took a few big gambles. Sometimes, they paid off, sometimes, back fired. But it did fill these youngsters with confidence enough to produce some fine performances in following matches. Even though Dravid has erred sometimes, he has been inspirational and a good captain. The factor which makes this team so likable are the youngsters who have been playing their hearts out and not quit even when the chips were down.
The fact that almost all the matches which they lost, barring defeats against Delhi and RCB at Jaipur were close matches, and that tells the story of the team in this season. They were down, but never out. I believe that the phase which hurt the team most were the 4 consecutive losses. Especially the loss against the table topper Delhi by one run after having the mighty Delhi team on the mat for 38 overs would have hurt a lot. The surprise of the season in terms of foreign players was Brad Hogg. The 41-year-old was on the sidelines for a fair amount of time, but delivered the goods consistently when given the chance. For a team which did not boast of a single Indian player who has represented the nation for a fair amount of time, barring their captain, it must have been a vindication of sorts for them to have come this far in the tournament.
Being a Bangalorean and supporting the double R’s over RCB, for me the defining moment of the IPL for this team as a whole and Dravid in particular would be their match against RCB at the Chinnaswamy. The way the crowd went into raptures when Dravid’s name was called out during the toss, was a moment to cherish for all the Dravid fans out there. The crowd loyalty was divided. As Dravid said, it was ‘an away home’ game for him, and they did win. The victory was lapped by every fan of Dravid as ‘the triumph’ after he was unceremoniously shown the door after 3 seasons by RCB. The arrival of their star player Shane Watson, provided the much needed zing in their batting as well as some handy 4 overs of medium pace. Shaun Tait has been fast and a match winner, but his wayward bowling in a couple of matches left a little to be desired. Though I shifted my loyalties from RCB to RR after the arrival of Dravid into the team, I was always amazed by the heroics of the team in the inaugural edition. This time, there was no repeat of that fairy tale run, but they have held their own against some of the best teams in the business.
A look at the points table can be deceptive because the team was in contention till its 15th match. A rare win by the DC ended the hopes of the Royals. HDFC Life could not have chosen better team to sponsor because their tagline ‘Sar Utha ke Jeeyo’ fits aptly to this team more than any other. Moreover, I think the Royals have served the purpose for which the ‘Indian’ Premier league was created – it has unearthed Indian talent like no other team.