IPL 2019: 3 mistakes that have cost Rajasthan Royals this season

Steve Smith and Rahul Tripathi (picture courtesy: BCCI/iplt20.com)
Steve Smith and Rahul Tripathi (picture courtesy: BCCI/iplt20.com)

Rajasthan Royals have not had a very good start to their IPL 2019 season. They have lost their opening three matches to find themselves in the bottom half of the points table, and need to make quick changes to get their campaign back on track.

RR need to win as many matches as possible before their foreign players like Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Steve Smith and maybe Jofra Archer leave for national duty in the second half of the IPL.

They have had a few positives in their first 3 matches, but they have also made a few mistakes at crucial stages which have ended up costing the side dearly. Here, we look at the 3 key mistakes that have cost Rajasthan Royals so far:

1. Poor bowling by pacers in the death overs

The biggest cause for worry for the Rajasthan Royals has been the form of their pacers. Barring Jofra Archer, none of the quick men have shown the ability to take wickets or bowl economically at crucial stages of the match; they have time and again allowed the opposition batsmen to escape being put under pressure.

The trio of Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat and Ben Stokes have been in the firing line of the opposition both in the powerplay and the death overs. Unadkat in particular has been very unreliable, and the fans have repeatedly called for the axing of the player from the team. He has picked up just 2 wickets in the 3 matches and has conceded 124 runs in just 11 overs, at a dreadful economy rate of 11.27 runs per over.

Kulkarni and Stokes have also not fared well as they have figures of 2/107 in 11 overs and 4/118 in 10 overs respectively.

Rajasthan Royals cannot replace Stokes because of his all-round abilities but would hope that he improves his figures in the coming matches. However, it is time to replace Unadkat and try maybe Varun Aaron in his place.

2. Misfiring batting unit

Jos Buttler (picture courtesy: BCCI/iplt20.com)
Jos Buttler (picture courtesy: BCCI/iplt20.com)

Rajasthan Royals headed into the IPL with one of the strongest and most settled batting line-ups in the tournament. They have so many batting riches that someone like Rahul Tripathi, who has had a such a good time opening the batting, has to bat at number 6. Moreover, it is even looking difficult to accommodate Ashton Turner in the line-up.

There have been a few good individual performances by the batsman but they have not fired collectively as a unit, which has led to two botched chases - against Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings.

The top order had a good game against Kings XI but the middle order collapsed while chasing a very gettable 39 runs in 4 overs. On the other hand, the top order collapsed against Chennai Super Kings as they lost 3 wickets in the powerplay, but the side was brought back into the match courtesy good knocks by Rahul Tripathi, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer.

Rajasthan have to start firing as a batting unit quickly or they may not go very far in the tournament.

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3. Poor tactics by the management and captain

Ajinkya Rahane (picture courtesy: BCCI/iplt20.com)
Ajinkya Rahane (picture courtesy: BCCI/iplt20.com)

Rajasthan Royals have been also been severely affected by some of the strange tactics by the captain and the management. The first of those is the batting position of Steve Smith and Rahul Tripathi.

We all know that these two batsmen are best suited for the top order. But for some strange reason, they have both been playing in the middle order.

Tripathi showed us glimpses of how effective he is at the top of the order when he was sent at number 4, within the first 6 overs, against CSK. But it remains to be seen where he will bat in the next match.

Besides that, Rajasthan Royals have also not been using their bowling resources effectively. Shreyas Gopal and Krishnappa Gowtham have bowled just 16 overs combined in 3 matches.

Gopal was bowling well against CSK in the middle overs a both Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni were finding it difficult to hit him for boundaries. But strangely, he did not finish his quota of overs. There may have been dew which was making it difficult for the spinners to grip the ball, but it would have been worth a gamble to give Gopal one more over.

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Edited by Musab Abid