R Ashwin is firing on all cylinders and Rajasthan Royals need to do the same in IPL 2022 playoffs-Opinion News , Firstpost

Rajasthan Royals need their best players to do well in the playoffs. Sportzpics

Here’s an oddball to begin with. Ravichandran Ashwin is experiencing his best-ever IPL season – with the bat. After 14 matches in the league stage, he has scored 183 runs for Rajasthan Royals this season. It includes a half-century, a strike rate of 146.40 and nine sixes.

For comparison, Ashwin’s previous season-best was 102 runs in the 2018 IPL season for Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab). He hasn’t crossed the 100-mark in any other season. In 2018, his strike rate was 143.66 and included five sixes. The only other time he hit more than a solitary six in an IPL season was in 2019, wherein he hit three sixes. Oh, and his 50 off 38 balls against Delhi Capitals in this 2022 edition is the only half-century Ashwin has scored in his IPL career.

It goes to say that Ashwin is experiencing a breakthrough season with the bat. He is hitting the ball well, and Rajasthan Royals’ think-tank has observed this. With Jos Buttler’s form tapering off, the pink brigade has had to think out-of-the-box a bit. When an early wicket falls, or when Shimron Hetmyer was absent, Ashwin was sent up the order in a pinch-hitting role, not seen often in T20 cricket given the nature of this format. And it has worked!

Like most cricketers, Ashwin is a confidence player. Giving him some degree of success and he strives to reach the next level. Give him a sense of security and belonging, and he makes that extra push for his team. At this mature stage in his career, that latter aspect is perhaps more important to him. Ashwin is much calmer and at peace with his accomplishments at a personal level, and he is seeking the same at a team level, both in international and franchise cricket.

The English tour last Summer pained him to a great extent. Thereafter, India’s failure to make it through to the knockouts at the T20 World Cup (in the UAE) was a setback too. In a way, it has congregated into Ashwin channelling his best for Rajasthan Royals, wherein the franchise has provided him comfort and stature equally. Bowling with Yuzvendra Chahal, Ashwin is a vital part of the bowling attack, even when he is not the frontman. This has liberated him enough to concentrate on the other aspect wherein he could contribute most – batting.

His 11 wickets in 14 games have come at a strike rate of 30.55. Cynics would argue that isn’t the best return, but Rajasthan deploy Chahal as its lead spinner and Trent Boult as the leader of the pack. Ashwin isn’t being used in the same manner as other franchises have deployed him, seen amply from the fact that he hasn’t bowled much in the powerplays, or that he hasn’t opened the bowling much, this season.

Even so, if you put together Ashwin’s two traits, 183 runs and 11 wickets in 14 matches give Rajasthan a very handy all-rounder with multiple utilities. It is a credit to Kumar Sangakkara and Sanju Samson that they have identified his dual role and deployed him in such a manner. At this point in time, Ashwin is firing on all cylinders, and his battle cries are a joy to behold, especially the one observed as he helped the Royals finish second in the IPL points table.

Two questions arise here, at this juncture. Could this form win him a spot for the T20 World Cup again this year? Time will tell, for Australian conditions will pose a different challenge than the UAE last year. More presently, could this form help Rajasthan Royals win the 2022 IPL title?

The answer to this second question is complicated at best. When you have retained Samson at INR 14 crore, when you have Jos Buttler smacking 600-plus runs in the league stage, when you have both Orange and Purple Caps holders in the playing eleven, when you have proven hitters like Hetmyer and Devdutt Padikkal in the line-up, you shouldn’t be relying on Ashwin to win you the tournament.

Sure, Ashwin has played a pivotal role in getting Rajasthan the second spot and setting a summit clash with Gujarat Titans in the first qualifier at Kolkata. It is vital because this has earned Rajasthan an additional attempt towards the IPL final, should they falter at the Eden Gardens on 24 May. But this ought to be the limit of reliance on Ashwin going forward.

Let it be said here that Rajasthan Royals started this tournament with arguably the best first-choice playing-eleven on paper, and definitively the best bowling attack, again on paper. That they lost consecutive matches to Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders was down to the unpredictable nature of both this format and the league, in general. Those two losses complicated matters at the business end of the league phase, so much so that it sucked any momentum Buttler-Chahal might have generated. And the Royals needed Ashwin to bail them out in two of their last three games.

What sets title-winning teams apart is the simple fact that they are able to arrest such slides, and not let them become a tedious, repetitive problem. Rajasthan are guilty of doing precisely this, unable to sort form issues with Samson, unable to figure out how to use Padikkal optimally, leaning heavily on Buttler for top-order runs, and thus putting immense pressure on their bowling unit, which is still coping magnificently.

Truth told, with both Orange and Purple Caps holders, it should have been an easier ride for Rajasthan Royals getting to the knockouts. That they huffed and puffed over the line hampers their status as proper title-contenders when faced with the likes of Gujarat and Lucknow Super Giants in the last four.

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