IPL Season Preview: Rajasthan Royals - Change in guard, the pitch effect and fantasy cricket tips

What kind of an influence can Shane Watson have as a captain?

Spot Fixing. Controversies. Mudgal reports. Supreme Court orders. The Srini memoirs. Gavaskar taking over the IPL.

Amidst this entire hullabaloo, this team has hung on by the barest of threads, for now. Yes, we will be a part of this year’s IPL. Just so you don’t misunderstand, I am talking about the perennial underdogs, Rajasthan Royals, and not our partners in crime, Chennai Super Kings.

The IPL is almost under way. And it is quite unpleasant to imagine what it would have been like without the presence of the Royals. Now that they’ve made it by the skin of their teeth, they will be looking to make it (possibly their last IPL?) a memorable one. So here’s looking at the what’s what and who’s who of Jaipur’s ‘Men in Blue’.

Overview

Rajasthan Royals has been one of the few teams that have believed in retaining the core of the team through seasons. They retained five players from their previous season, i.e., Shane Watson, Ajinkya Rahane, James Faulkner, Stuart Binny and Sanju Samson. These five players were key factors in the Royals’ run to the semis last year and have rightly been held back.

With Rahul Dravid stepping aside, and moving on to a coach/mentor role, Shane Watson will adorn the captaincy band. Last season, though Dravid didn’t have the best of times with his bat, his captaincy was inventive, fresh, and nothing short of inspiring. In spite of having a squad bereft of big names and T20 superstars, the Royals churned out wins with remarkable consistency.

To say that Dravid’s shrewdness and clarity of thought as a captain went a long way in ensuring the Royals’ success will not be an overstatement at all. What can we expect of him as the mentor, though? Dravid may not have the maniacal presence of Jose Mourinho, but he does possess the tactical genius of Brendan Rodgers.

There is one another thing that will be different from last season. The fortress of Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur will no longer be the abode of the Royals. After having been impregnable for a good part of 6 years, the Royals are moving their home base to Ahmedabad owing to differences between the Rajasthan Cricket Association and the Royals’ management. It will be interesting to see how this change pans out.

Rajasthan at the Auctions

The Royals have always been frugal at the auctions, and it was not different this year. Despite being at their parsimonious best, they still managed to make some intelligent buys and have assembled together a squad that will be a hard nut to crack irrespective of the tracks that they play on.

Their fetish with Australian cricketers continued as they bought back Brad Hodge and added Steve Smith, Ben Cutting and Kane Richardson to their ranks. All of them are established T20 personnel for their BBL teams. They also picked up Trans-Tasman quickie Tim Southee. Kevon Cooper, an extremely handy all-rounder, also found his way back into the Royals’ squad.

The Royals have always been found wanting in the overseas fast bowling department. The half-inspirational, half-delirious Shaun Tait was all they had over the previous years, and he was injured more often than not. That concern has been addressed pretty well this season. Steve Smith is a great player to have for any team, in any format. His batting has seen giant strides, and his fielding will save a minimum of 10-15 runs on any given day. Cooper, with his dibbly-dobblies and the ability to wield the long handle, can be a game-changer on his day.

The Indian contingent: true to their self, there isn’t a single ‘big name’ among the list of Indians in their squad. Yes, they did try their hands on Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa and Irfan Pathan; they even bought Amit Mishra only for the Hyderabad Sunrisers to used their ‘Right-to-Match’ card. Once the bidding reached inappropriate and undeserving numbers, though, they always backed out.

James Faulkner adds value both with bat and ball

Abhishek Nayar, Rajat Bhatia and Dhawal Kulkarni were the only ones who breached the 1 crore mark. Honest triers, they fit into the mold of a Rajasthan Royals player perfectly. They also picked up highly rated youngster, Unmukt Chand, who had an indifferent season last year with the Daredevils. With Dravid out of reckoning, Chand might be the one entrusted with the opening slot.

Pravin Tambe was bought back using their own RTM card. With Ankit Chavan and Ajit Chandila out of the reckoning owing to their impishness, Tambe might be more of a permanent fixture this season. Vikramjeet Malik and Dishant Yagnik, both of whom had their moments last season, found their way back home, as well.

The Royals also recruited a couple of exciting Under-19 prospects in Ankush Bains and Deepak Hooda. Hooda, with his all-round performances, was one of the key figures in India’s journey to the U-19 World Cup finals earlier this year. Canny left-arm spinner, Iqbal Abdulla, was another good pick from the RR think-tank. Karun Nair, Rahul Tewatia and Ankit Sharma will serve as the utility squad players in case of injuries, loss of form, or some such reasons during the course of the tournament.

Fantasy Cricket Tip

This part is for the fantasy cricket aficionados. Royals have this unscrupulous habit of chopping and churning of the team for every single match, thereby giving us buffs a hard time while selecting our team. There is this one guy, though, who will be a constant fixture and an extremely safe bet: Ajinkya Rahane. Priced at 900,000 (based on the official IPL fantasy) and having had a couple of extremely consistent seasons opening in the IPL, one can be sure of him being among the points more often than not.

Watson hasn’t been in the best of forms and his bowling is always an uncertainty, so James Faulkner and Steve Smith (if he plays) will be worth a gamble. Pravin Tambe should also be an interesting wildcard pick at 800,000.

So this was part 1 of the season preview of our beloved Rajasthan Royals. Now, we know of the players in the team, the changes in personnel, the auction picks, and a couple of fantasy cricket tips. Part 2 will take a look at how the team has performed over the seasons, their winning formulae and what could be their strategy and winning XI in the upcoming season. Stay tuned.