IPL 2022: "You can't say Rajasthan Royals are over-dependent on Jos Buttler" - Piyush Chawla 

Piyush Chawla believes that Rajasthan Royals aren't "over-dependent" on their top scorer and the current holder of the IPL 2022 Orange Cap Jos Buttler.

The leg-spinner believes that the Royals have enough strength in their middle-order which hasn't been tested enough due to Buttler's prolific campaign so far.

The English wicketkeeper-batter has shown a freakish run of form, scoring three centuries in the first half of the season. He is currently sitting on 499 runs and has a remarkable average of 71.29.

It is one of the reasons why the Rajasthan Royals are placed comfortably at the second position on the points table with six wins from eight games.

However, when Buttler got out for his lowest total of the season - 8 (9) - against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday, the rest of the batting crumbled behind him.

They were reduced to 110-7 after 17 overs but found a savior in Riyan Parag. The youngster, given time to build his innings, finally showed some form with a 56-run knock off 31 balls. It helped the team to get to 144 and eventually win the match by 29 runs.

Speaking to ESPNCricinfo ahead of the Royals' match against Mumbai Indians on Saturday, Chawla saw Parag's knock as a positive. He said that the rest of the middle-order still needs some definite chances before being judged.

"As a captain and team management, you will always want him to carry the form, but sometimes the law of averages also gets you out. That's what we saw in the last game. The good thing was Riyan Parag played a good knock in the lower order... The middle-order hasn't got much time to bat. With Samson, an in-form Hetmyer, and Riyan Parag who has finally scored in one game, they have the batting. You can't say they are over-dependent [on Jos Buttler] but we have to see what the others do when they get the chance."

Defending 144 is rarely as easy as the Rajasthan Royals made it look on Tuesday. Kuldeep Sen blew off the top-order before the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal strangulated the middle and lower-order into submission.

Chawla said it was a display of "the value of experience" by the senior tweakers. He added that unlike many other teams in the tournament, the Rajasthan Royals aren't dependent on one or two bowlers to get them wickets every game. The benefit of this comes to the fore in such games.

"They are displaying the value of experience. They were defending 145 [vs Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday], it wasn't the easiest of pitches... Yuzvendra Chahal didn't get any wickets but held one end and Ashwin reaped its benefits as he got wickets and didn't give away too many runs. Bowling partnerships are as important as batting ones. Many teams are playing out the strike bowlers and scoring runs from the other end. But that isn't possible against Rajasthan where every bowler is better than the other. The standard they have set for themselves has been working brilliantly for the team."

Although Chahal went wicketless against his erstwhile team, he's currently leading the wickets chart in the season with 18 scalps from eight games. Ashwin has mostly handled the holding job in the franchise while also picking up seven wickets.

"Mumbai will win at some point too" - Piyush Chawla

The upcoming match is a favorable one for the Rajasthan Royals because their opponents are struggling to rise from the 10th spot in the points table.

Asked whether the five-time champions can break the jinx on Saturday, Chawla cited the "law of averages" to say they can. He emphasized the need to clinch the small crucial moments.

"[Rajasthan Royals] are playing brilliant cricket no doubt, but going by the law of averages, they'll lose at some point and Mumbai will win at some point too. It's not like Mumbai is a bad team. They are pretty good but is just lacking in winning the small crucial moments."

The match will kickstart at 7:30 PM IST at the DY Patil Sports Academy.