IPL 2018: 4 strategic blunders that have placed Rajasthan Royals on the verge of elimination

After the completion of the IPL auction earlier this year, the Rajasthan Royals looked like one of the most formidable teams in the competition, at least on paper. However, after 13 games, they find themselves standing one precipice of elimination and their last game has now become a must-win one. It should never have come to that due to the sheer riches in their squad and despite losing Steve Smith for reasons everyone knows, RR looked like one of those teams who were going to be in the playoffs. They can still qualify through by winning their last game and hoping for the results to go their way. However, that should never have been the case.

So, how did this come about? Other than some ordinary performances, a large part of the blame for RR’s predicament lies in the strategic blunders they have committed throughout the tournament and those have eventually piled up to land them in the soup they are in right now. Anyway, here is a look at the key strategic blunders that have cost them dearly so far.

---

#4 Ben Stokes’ usage as a batsman

Last season Ben Stokes was the player of the tournament in the IPL and despite the fact that he had missed out on cricket coming into this year’s tournament, it was expected that he would do well. The sort of natural talent that he possesses makes him a player who can overcome such obstacles but things have not turned out well for him as a batsman and that has been a problem for RR.

In particular, it is England player’s troubles against spin that has been his biggest problem and instead of trying to find a solution to the problem, RR have stuck to sending him to bat in the middle-order. He was sent up to open the innings only once and considering the fact that he likes to play against the faster bowler, RR should have used Stokes against the new ball. Even if he was not being sent up as an opener, he could at least have batted at number 3 and it could well have been a very different story.

#3 Persistence with D’Arcy Short despite his struggles

D’Arcy Short

The top scorer in last year’s Big Bash League was always going to be a big draw in the IPL auction and hence it was no surprise when D’Arcy Short was bought by RR for Rs. 4 crores after a round of heavy bidding (his base price was Rs. 20 lakhs). However, he has found it difficult to get going in the IPL and simply could not get the hang of the pace on the pitches in India.

He struggled to push the scoring and that hampered RR immensely. That being said, any other team would have seen the problem and immediately corrected the situation by dropping. RR, on the other hand, played him in as many as 7 games and that is half of the games that a team plays in the league stage. He averaged only 16.42 and recorded an abysmal strike rate of 116.16. This has been an incredible piece of bad strategy from the RR and something they are going to look back upon with contrition if they fail to make it to the playoffs.

#2 Not playing Ish Sodhi from the outset

Ish Sodhi

Following the injury to their Afgan spinner Zahir Khan, the RR replaced him with Kiwi spinner Ish Sodhi, who is one of the world’s leading spinners in T20 cricket. Before joining the RR, he had a T20 economy rate of 7.66 and was definitely a bowler that should come straight into the RR line-up. However, that did not happen and it was not until the 7th game (he was available from the 3rd game onwards) game that the leg-spinner was given a game.

Sodhi has only played 4 games so far and his performance clearly illustrates that not playing him earlier was a massive mistake on the part of RR. He has taken only 4 wickets but it is his variety, control, and accuracy that has seen him provide RR with the sort of solidity that they had been missing in the middle-over. Sodhi’s economy rate of 5.93 is a clear indication of the sort of impact that he could have had, had he played earlier. In a game that depends on such small margins, such strategic blunders are always punished.

#1 Misuse of Jos Buttler

Jos Buttler

In Jos Buttler, RR have one of the world’s most destructive batsmen but for the first seven games in this year’s IPL, he was sent in to bat in the middle-order and it was a position in which he struggled. While D’Arcy Short was struggling in the opener’s slot, Buttler was struggling against spinners in the middle-order and it was only when the team had to chase a big score in a rain-shortened game that the Englishman was sent up the order. Since then, he has been brilliant and has been responsible for the revival in RR’s fortunes.

However, it is a move that should not be called a masterstroke, simply because of the fact that the team reacted late and in fact, misused the player in the initial part of the tournament. It was a strategic blunder of epic proportions and one that they will probably live to regret.