IPL 2018: Rajasthan Royals: Strong-spirited but need to fire collectively

Bengaluru, May 21: Rajasthan Royals returned to the IPL after a hiatus of two years and immediately faced a setback as they lost captain Steve Smith post the Cape Town ball tampering fracas. But under new skipper Ajinkya Rahane they did not disappoint, entering the play-offs as the fourth team.

They showed a lot of resolve to stay in the race for knockout stage and braved the loss of in-form Jos Buttler and influential Ben Stokes to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore in the must-win game at Jaipur to enter the play-offs. Take them for granted at your own peril.

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Here Mykhel gives a report card of Rajasthan Royals based on their performance in the league phase.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

The masterstroke was the promotion of Buttler as opener and the Englishman repaid the faith with five half-centuries in six matches and played a massive role in Royals getting back to winning ways after a mid-way slump. Sanju Samson kept chipping in with bat and on the field through some outstanding catches.

Some other Indian players like K Gowtham and Shreyas Gopal too rose to the occasion more than once as they hurdled over some tough moments in the scramble for a play-off berth.

Ready for the next step, #Royals? 🔥#BelieveInTheJazba #JazbaJeetKa #HallaBol #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/A1GtN8oJmr

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) May 21, 2018

New Zealand leg-spinner Ish Sodhi too has been impressive taking five wickets in as many matches at a parsimonious 6.31 - the best among Rajasthan Royals' regular bowlers. Pacer Jofra Archer too has been a revelation for Royals taking 13 wickets from nine matches to top their bowling chart.

WHAT WENT WRONG

The biggest worry of them going into the knockout stage is the struggle of skipper Rahane. His patchiness has robbed Royals of serious momentum at various stages in this IPL.

Their second costliest buy - Jaydev Unadkat - was not really up to the mark, failing to stem run flow either up front or at the death and has not made the expected impact. Dhawal Kulkarni, the other experienced pacer, too has below par in this IPL for Royals. While Stokes, who has returned to England to join the Test squad along with Buttler, misfired more often than not and only his reputation kept him in the squad.

Nothing like the cheer of our #RoyalFans! 😎#JazbaJeetKa #HallaBol #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/e3H1ZsaYUu

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) May 21, 2018

THE ROAD AHEAD

The immediate task is to win the Eliminator against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens. And for future, they would be wanting to keep the core of Rahane, Samson and Buttler and build a team around them.

Highest run-getter

Jos Buttler: 548 (50s: 5)

Highest Wicket taker

Jofra Archer: 13 (Eco: 8.38, Best: 3/22)

Disappointment

Ben Stokes. The Englishman's figures of 196 runs from 13 matches at 16.33 (strike rate: 121.73) and eight wickets at an economy of 8.18 did not really suit the world's premier all-rounder.