IPL 2020: 5 biggest disappointments for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 13

Rajasthan Royals finished at the bottom of the points table.

The Rajasthan Royals (RR) had come into the IPL 2020 with many hopes after finishing 7^th in IPL 2019. The RR had done well in IPL 2018, making it into the playoffs and finishing 4^th on the points table.

In the auction of the IPL 2020, RR went in with some plans, and even before that, they had traded former captain Ajinkya Rahane to Delhi Capitals in lieu of three players. In the auction, RR bought Robin Uthappa, David Miller, Ankit Rajpoot, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kartik Tyagi, Andrew Tye, and Tom Curran among others.

On paper, when combined with the likes of Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, and others, the squad looked good enough with a slight issue of experience batsmen in the middle order. It was expected that David Miller will be the finisher for RR.

Fans waited to see how Jaydev Unadkat would repay the faith shown by the franchise owners who again bought him for INR 3 Cr, spending a total of INR 23 Crs on him across the last three seasons.

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RR started off well with wins over Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab in their first two matches, but then they lost 4 in a row. After that, they lost and won matches regularly, though keeping themselves in contention for the playoffs. Unfortunately, in their last league game against KKR, which was a do or die match for them, RR couldn’t perform up to requirements and was eliminated from the playoffs and the tournament.

A lot of the blame went for their harebrained selection policy and the constant backing of non-performers. Add to that an inexperienced middle-order with no established finisher and you had a recipe for disaster. They, however, found a dependable player in Rahul Tewatia, who starred with both the bat and the ball throughout the tournament, and his five sixes in an over to Sheldon Cottrell will be enshrined forever in IPL highlight reels.

Some of their ideas worked like sticking with Ben Stokes as an opener and Jos Buttler as the finisher, while some like bowling Jaydev Unadkat in death overs against a rampaging AB de Villiers didn’t. Overall it was a sad performance from a team that showed much promise and there are things they would need to rectify in the upcoming IPL 2021 auction.

Check out the 5 biggest disappointments for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 13

RIYAN PARAG

Young Riyan Parag starred in one of the best chases ever seen in the IPL 2020 when he made 42* in 26 balls and partnered with Rahul Tewatia to win a match against SRH as they chased down 163 runs from being 78/5 in 12 overs.

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Parag made a total of 86 runs in 12 matches, but apart from that one innings and a couple of other cameos, didn’t really do his job as a finisher for the Rajasthan Royals. However, it cannot be his fault altogether as the team management entrusted an 18-year-old with the responsibility of finishing matches with no experienced player at the other end to guide him.

But given that he was a specialist batsman, his returns in the 12 matches do not match what was expected of him at the least.

SHREYAS GOPAL

Shreyas Gopal had a gun IPL 2019, where he picked up a fifer including a hat-trick against RCB. Much was expected from the Karnataka leg-spinner, especially on spin favored pitches in the UAE when the IPL 2020 was moved to the desert nation.

However, with just 10 wickets in 14 matches at an economy of 8.54 and the best bowling figures of 2/28, Gopal failed to perform his duties as the no.1 spinner in the team. He didn’t manage to get the purchase out of the pitches and instead of being an attacking option for his captain, Gopal was content being a run-saving bowler for RR.

This was not to be the right choice for him, as there was only Rahul Tewatia to partner him as a specialist spinner, along with part-timers in Parag and Jaiswal. RR didn’t even include Mayank Markande to give Gopal some breathing space and it affected his performance.

ROBIN UTHAPPA

Robin Uthappa was let go by the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise after almost a 5-year association with them, where he had won the tournament in 2014. The inability to attack from the go and poor outcome in the IPL 2019, where he failed with the bat, led to KKR releasing him.

Rajasthan Royals in a bid to add experience to their batting lineup bought 34-year-old Uthappa for INR 3 Cr. Based on his domestic form as well, this decision begged an explanation. On top of that, RR decided to use him as a finisher, while it was clear that his days of hitting big sixes were way behind him.

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He succeeded a bit when he was asked to open the batting with Ben Stokes, but still, the big sixes and fast scoring eluded him and it was evident that RR had erred in including him in the playing XI for the majority of the season.

In 12 matches, Uthappa made 196 runs at a strike-rate of 119.51 and averaged 16.33, hitting 7 sixes and 19 fours in total. Instead, the Rajasthan Royals should have shown faith in young Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top, who was discarded after just 3 games, which included an impressed knock of 34.

It will be highly unlikely that RR would retain him for IPL 2021 based on this performance, but given their track record, one cannot rule out anything.

STEVE SMITH

It will be a surprise for many to find Steve Smith in this list, as he made 311 runs in 14 games, averaged 25.91, and had a strike-rate of 131.22. He made 3 half-centuries as well and his highest score was 69.

However, the issue with Smith was that until he opened the innings, he was a good batsman, who could help anchor the innings, while others played around him. The problematic part was that RR’s playing XI was filled with such batsmen who could play anchor, but the big-hitters were only a few like Stokes, Buttler, and Tewatia.

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Smith also found it hard to make tough decisions like leaving out Uthappa, Unadkat, and Gopal and trying out new blood like Markande, Jaiswal, and perhaps giving a longer run to Miller. It was even suggested that Smith should drop himself to give RR a better try at qualifying for the playoffs.

His decision to give Unadkat the penultimate over while defending a good total against RCB was criticized as a rampaging AB de Villiers took him to the cleaners and pocketed the game for the red team. Smith will have to be more proactive as the captain next year if the RR management continues with him and take the tough decisions for the benefit of the team.

JAYDEV UNADKAT

Well, what can be said about Jaydev Unadkat? An Indian domestic cricket legend, who has captained his team Saurashtra to a Ranji Trophy win and has done decently well in IPL as well. He has a five-wicket haul to his name in IPL, including a hat-trick, and has benefitted from that one performance in the 2017 edition of the tournament multiple times.

Rajasthan Royals bought him for INR 11.5 Cr in IPL 2018 auction, he picked 11 wickets in 15 matches for them at an economy of 9.65. He was released from the franchise but bought back in the IPL 2019 auction for INR 8.40 Cr. Unadkat then picked 10 wickets in 11 matches at an economy of 10.66 and copped a lot of criticism.

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But the RR team management showed faith in him, as they bought him again in the IPL 2020 auction for INR 3 Cr. This time as well, Unadkat disappointed with 4 wickets in 7 matches at an economy of 9.91.

The constant faith in a bowler who is prone to expensive spells and has not justified his price over and over again was unexplainable for any of the experts and though fans had hoped, that he would do well for the franchise, were disappointed once again by his outings.

It was not to be as Unadkat just couldn’t adjust his bowling style to the UAE pitches, which actually suited him. The result was yet another disappointing performance from an experienced player, who let down his fans and his team’s fans once more.