IPL 2018, RR vs DD: The changes that Rajasthan Royals should make
The Rajasthan Royals take on the Delhi Daredevils at Jaipur in Game 6 of IPL 2018. Both sides suffered defeats in their opening matches: Rajasthan lost by nine wickets to the Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi were defeated by the Kings XI Punjab by six wickets.
While Delhi put up a considerable fight in their match, the same cannot be said for Rajasthan. They only managed 125/9 in their allotted overs and their bowlers failed to make any real incisions into the Hyderabad line-up.
The IPL is a ruthless tournament and it is never to early to start making changes. Here are two changes which Rajasthan should make for their match tomorrow.
Move Jos Buttler up the order
England's wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler is one of the cleanest strikers of the ball in world cricket. He combines power and finesse to score runs all around the ground and is responsible for England's fastest ever ODI fifty.
It was a mystery to see him batting at number six for Rajasthan in the last game. As a rule in the shorter formats, you have to give your best batsmen the most balls. The question is who he replaces though.
D'Arcy Short had a torrid first game as he ran himself out in the first over of the match. However, this is not sufficient grounds to drop him - especially because his bowling showed promise.
There could be an argument for Ajinkya Rahane dropping down to three and having the explosive opening combination of Buttler and Short. This would be a very bold move given Rahane's preference to open.
Also, given Sanju Samson's great innings, it would be better to leave him in the number three slot - so as not to disturb his rhythm. A less controversial decision would be to move him to number four. Ben Stokes came in at 4 in the last game, but he is more of a middle-order batsman in T20 cricket.
This seems like the optimum solution and would leave Rajasthan's batting order as the following:
1. D'Arcy Short, 2. Ajinkya Rahane, 3. Sanju Samson, 4. Jos Buttler, 5. Ben Stokes, 6. Rahul Tripathi.
That top and middle order looks much stronger with Buttler actually getting a slot up the order.
Drop Krishnappa Gowtham
You have to be ruthless in the IPL. If a player doesn't perform you have to immediately start considering other options for who could replace him. Looking back on Rajasthan's opening match, it is hard to see how Krishnappa Gowtham actually contributed.
Gowtham batted at seven and only faced two balls. He was caught behind for a duck, after struggling against a Siddarth Kaul bouncer. Admittedly he is something of a bowling all-rounder, with his main asset being his off-break bowling. He was given an over early on and was hit for two consecutive boundaries by Shikhar Dhawan.
This was ultimately the only over he bowled and it went for nine runs. Rajasthan have plenty of other spin options and should definitely drop Gowtham. D'Arcy Short found some prodigious turn and bowled two overs for just nine runs, while Shreyas Gopal's three overs went for just 18.
Rajasthan could replace him with several other players. One of the best moves they could make would be to replace Gowtham with Indian all-rounder Stuart Binny and then drop Ben Laughlin for Ish Sodhi.
This would allow the Royals to bring in a quality frontline spinner, while still having the same depth in their fast bowling unit. Moreover, Stuart Binny's ability with the bat would provide a handy contribution in the middle to late order.