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Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) are two teams that have invariably fought against finishing with the wooden spoon in the IPL year after year. This year, they were scheduled to take on one another for their opening assignment.
Batting first, the Punjab Kings posted a massive score of 221 courtesy of some mind-blowing hitting by KL Rahul, Chris Gayle and Mandeep Singh.
Understandably, Rajasthan's bowlers were smashed all over the park. Their bowlers had some positives and a few negatives to take away from the innings.
Here, we will highlight 3 key takeaways from RR's bowling unit in their first IPL 2021 game.
1. The brilliance of RR's new recruit Chetan Sakariya
Making his IPL debut for the Rajasthan Royals, young Chetan Sakariya mightily impressed with the ball. Despite Rajasthan's other bowlers going for over 10 runs per over, Sakariya managed to maintain an impressive economy rate of 7.80 in the high-scoring affair.
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The exciting young bowler's first wicket was that of Mayank Agarwal, with a brilliant delivery that was caught behind by Sanju Samson. The youngster ended his 4-over spell with 3 wickets to his name - a commendable feat for anybody in the IPL, let alone for a 23-year-old debutant.
Going forward in the tournament, skipper Sanju Samson will certainly look to use Sakariya as a key weapon after his brilliant performance against the Punjab Kings.
2. RR continue to leak runs with the ball
Chetan Sakariya was brilliant. However, the other bowlers miserably failed to give him company.
With the exception of Riyan Parag, who bowled just one over and picked up one wicket, all the other RR bowlers leaked more than 10 runs per over. The culprit unit included the likes of Mustafizur Rahman, Chris Morris, Ben Stokes and Rahul Tewatia. As a result, the Punjab Kings registered a mammoth total of 221 from their 20 overs.
Moving forward, RR will need to fill this glaring void in their bowling unit if they hope to turn their fortunes around in IPL 2021.
3. Could RR have used Riyan Parag more?
While every bowler apart from Sakariya was being taken to the cleaners by KL Rahul, Chris Gayle and Mandeep Singh, Riyan Parag bowled a superb 10th over for the team in which he dismissed the dangerous Gayle.
Strangely, the talented all-rounder was given only 1 over by RR captain Sanju Samson. Had Parag bowled more, Punjab could have potentially been restricted to a much lower total.
Sanju Samson will definitely go back to the drawing board after the game to chalk out a more sustainable bowling plan for the franchise. Their next test lies against the impressive Delhi Capitals on 15 April.
Overall, even though the Royals would be happy to discover a gem in Chetan Sakariya, the franchise has a lot of holes to fill in their bowling attack. While credit definitely needs to be given to Rahul, Gayle and Mandeep for their batting performances, the Rajasthan bowlers could have certainly done a better job.
With Jofra Archer out of action for at least the first half of the IPL, the RR think-tank has to urgently analyze their shortcomings. Otherwise it will be too late to make it to the play-offs.
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